The martial tradition of Bengal has its roots in the Bengal Army during Mughal rule since the early 18th century, when three successive Persian Muslim dynasties, namely the Nasiri, Afshar and Najafi, ruled Bengal. During the Colonial Rule of the British, Bengal was principally a bulwark of British power and trade in the South Asian region. The British under Robert Clive defeated a 50,000 strong Bengal Army of Nawab Siraj-ud-daullah in the Polashey(Plassey) in 1757 and later the forces of Nawab Mir Qasim at the Battle of Buxar in 1764. The Army of Bengal was formed, which later became part of a united Indian Army from 1895 to 1947. The eastern part of the region was a prominent place for military and police recruitment, with entire horse-mounted cavalry and lancer units being recruited there prior to the Bengal Sepoy Mutiny of 1857.[citation needed] Post-mutiny, units with the epithet "Bengal" in their name, such as Bengal Sappers and Bengal Cavalry, were largely recruited from non-Bengali peoples from Bihar, Varanasi and Uttar Pradesh which were technically still part of Bengal Presidency at that time. After the creation of the nation of Pakistan, recruitment from erstwhile East Pakistan began in 1948 into the East Bengal Regiment, newly created with all Bengali personnel, part of the Pakistan Army till 1971.
Military operations were formally launched after the Sector Commanders Conference during 11–17 July 1971. The conference was held three months after the oath of the newly formed Bangladesh Government at Meherpur, Kushtia. During this conference the structure and formation as well as resolving issues surrounding the organization of the various sectors, strategy and reinforcements of the Bangladeshi forces was determined. It was of considerable historical importance from a tactical point of view, as it determined the command structure of the Bangladeshi forces throughout Bangladesh Liberation War that was fought between Bangladesh(East Pakistan until 25 March 1971) and West Pakistan in 1971.
This conference was presided over by the Bangladesh interim government in exile, headed by then Prime Minister Tajuddin Ahmed and Colonel (Retd.) M A G Osmani. M A G Osmani was reinstated into active duty and promoted to General as the Commander-in-Chief of the Bangladesh Forces. Principal participants of this conference included: Wing Commander Khademul Bashar, Squadron Leader M.Hamidullah Khan, Major Ziaur Rahman, Major Abdul Jalil, Captain ATM Haider, Lt. Col. Abdur Rab and Group Captain A. K. Khandker. Lt.Col Rab was appointed as Chief of Army Staff. As a result of this meeting, Bangladesh was divided into eleven sectors.[citation needed] These sectors were placed under the control of Sector Commanders, who would direct the guerilla war against Pakistani occupation forces. For better efficiency in military operations each of the sectors were also divided into a number of sub-sectors. As a point of note, the 10th Sector was under direct command of the Commander-in-Chief and included the Naval Commando Unit as a C-in-C’s special force.
During the night of 25 March a sudden, unprovoked and brutal crackdown codenamed Operation Searchlight was unleashed by Pakistani Armed Forces upon the local Bengali population in major cities of Dhaka, Chittagong, Comilla, Sylhet, Jessore, Rangpur, Syedpur, Rajshahi and numerous other localities. Hundreds of thousand innocent civilians as well as Bengali military, para-military and law-enforcement personnel were executed in cold blood by the Pakistani military with countless instances of arson, murder, rape, looting and massive human rights violation. Important facilities and buildings, religious institutions, hospitals, student dormitories were bombed and set ablaze. Surviving Bengali officers and NCOs organized revolts in military installations around the country and attacked arms depots, while many managed to defect with weapons and ammo. During late afternoon of 26 March, before departing Chittagong city then Major Ziaur Rahman managed to stop by the Kalurghat Radio Station in Chittagong, and by late evening read out the three line declaration of independence he wrote in Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's name that was transmitted throughout the day. On 27 March while being retransmitted the message was picked up by a Japanese ship in the Bay of Bengal area. 26 March became the official day the nation's independence struggle broke out, and thus became to be the national independence day and the nation was officially proclaimed as Bangladesh.
Since its inception, one of the Bangladesh Army's internal tasks has been the conduct of counter-insurgency operations in the CHT region. Since 1976, an insurgent group known as the Shanti Bahini has demanded better treatment for local tribal peoples and has been fighting a brutal and armed insurgency in the region. However, the situation has calmed in recent years. An international peace accord overseen by the UN, was agreed upon by the Government and representatives of the Shanti Bahini in 1997. Subsequently the deployment of the Bangladesh Army to the region has been gradually reduced.
At present the Bangladesh Army has seven regional Infantry Division HQ with twenty five+ Infantry Brigades, seven Armoured regiment,One Armoured Brigade, twenty three+ Artillery Regiments and various divisional support formations deployed throughout the country. It also has the following independent units under direct command of Army Headquarters: 46th & 65th Infantry Brigade, 14th Engineers Brigade , one Para-Commando Brigade, 6th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, one Signals Brigade and three Army Aviation Squadrons. In addition to this, the Army also has a command for Training and Doctrinal policy formulation and conduct, named the Army Training and Doctrine Command (ARTDOC) and a number of training institutions spread all over the country that supplement its combat capability. Capability development and training are managed by each Corps, and as such the Bangladesh Army is divided into the following administrative Corps.
No comments:
Post a Comment