Fresh gunfire erupted at a paramilitary camp in the Bangladesh capital, Dhaka, on Thursday, police said, as troops took to streets in towns across the country a day after 50 people were killed during a mutiny over pay.
”Lay down your guns immediately and go back to barracks. Do not force me to take tough actions or push my patience beyond tolerable limits,” Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina warned mutinous Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) border troops in a national broadcast.
”Give democracy and the economy a chance to develop.”
The turmoil underscores the challenges faced by Hasina, who took office only last month after winning parliamentary elections in December that returned Bangladesh to democracy after nearly two years of army-backed emergency rule.
Bangladesh, home to more than 140-million people, has had several military coups since independence in 1971, but this week’s mutinies over pay and command structure do not appear to be politically motivated.
The main duty of the BDR is guarding the country’s borders, but often they back up the army and police in meeting other defence and security requirements.
Traditionally the BDR is led by army officers. Demands by some BDR troops to draw commanders from their own ranks, and for better pay and benefits, sparked the shooting among BDR members on Wednesday, officials said.
Fresh trouble
Fresh trouble broke out on Thursday, only hours after it appeared Hasina had negotiated a surrender by offering the mutineers an amnesty.
”Firing started again at the BDR complex in the afternoon although we were expecting the revolt … to end soon,” a police officer said.
Shooting incidents involving BDR troops also broke out in more than a dozen other towns, local police officials told Reuters reporters.
A Reuters reporter in Sylhet in the north-east said BDR troops were ”coming on the street holding up guns and shooting”.
BDR members barricaded a highway linking two districts in the southern region while they took over camps from army commanders at several places, local officials said. There were no immediate reports of casualties in those actions.
Cellphone services were ordered cut by the government to stem rumours and misinformation, one cellphone operator said.
‘Don’t make your sisters widows’
Hasina is trying to convince foreign aid donors that Bangladesh, where about 40% of the populace live below the poverty line, is on a path to stability.
She expressed deep shock over the deaths and urged the mutinous troops not to ”kill your brothers or make your sisters widows”.
Officials had earlier said the mutiny was being brought under control.
”The Prime Minister has urged all people to remain calm and not to indulge in violence,” said Mohiuddin Khan Alaamgir, one of Hasina’s advisers who attended an emergency meeting with her.
Witnesses said police recovered the bodies of six BDR officers near the Dhaka headquarters on Thursday. On Wednesday, police found two officers dead.
Analysts said the mutinies also pose a major challenge for Hasina in keeping together the powerful defence forces — which have often intervened in the country’s politics — and tackling their grievances without risking further discord.
”This poses a huge challenge for the prime minister and her government, who need to be tactful in trying to resolve it,” said retired Major General Azizur Rahman, a former BDR chief. — Reuters