Chittagong's Peril
Over the past few decades, the area stretching from the south-eastern coastline to the jungles of the Chittagong Hills Tracts (CHT) has become a playground for all types of criminal activities - from smuggling of drugs and other contrabands to firearms. This has also made the area a sanctuary for criminals of various shades, and triggered the growth of indigenous criminal activities of the most dangerous kind. The most worrying aspect of these illegal cross-border activities has been the proliferation of arms in the region itself and their impact on local law and order and political situation. Local power mongers as well as ordinary criminals have reportedly come to possess large number of sophisticated weapons in recent times, posing a serious threat to peace and security in the area particularly Chittagong city. These are happening under the nose of the law enforcing agencies, without any action being taken.
This proliferation of deadly weaponry in Chittagong has been possible because of the region's geographic location and characteristics. The long sea coast is not properly policed as neither the navy nor the recently-formed coast guard has sufficient logistics to do the job. On the other end, the terrain is hilly and covered with thick jungles. In many parts, these are virtually impenetrable and, therefore, extremely difficult to police. Bangladesh's borders with Myanmar and India are in large parts unprotected, with hundreds of miles without any security outposts. These border regions have long been infested with insurgent armies. These groups have become the driving force behind the illegal trade, particularly in arms and drugs. The influx of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar and activities by the erstwhile Shanti Bahini had also contributed much to this trans-border trade.
Given such a situation, it is obvious that the government has its work cut out. On the one hand, it needs to energise police drive in Chittagong city and adjoining areas such as the crime-infested Fatikchari, Hathazari and Rauzan thanas, in order to stifle the demand part of the arms flow. On the other hand, the military and para-military forces need to be deployed more extensively along the border to intercept smuggler gangs and choke the criminals' supply lines. There is little scope to take this matter lightly, because the security of the country itself is involved here. Effective use of security forces and adequate allocation of resources would be vital to control this dangerous trade.
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