Intels smell foul play behind Ansars ‘mutinous’ siege

Bangladesh witnessed another Ansar “mutiny” apparently by a section of temporary Ansar members, but fuelled by a number of officers ranking from deputy director to deputy director general, sources concerned said.

TBS has video footage of a number of district commandants of DD rank participating in the rebellious Ansar members’ processions or addressing their rallies in different districts when rebellion was taking place around Bangladesh Secretariat on Sunday.

At least one of them however is understood to be forced to address the disgruntled Ansar members, called as embodiment Ansars, whose service is contractual and their demand was confirming their job under revenue budget.

A similar demand was made by battalion Ansar members 30 years back when they mutinied at Ansar Academy at Shafipur, Gazipur and Ansar Headquarters at Khilgaon in the capital.

The revolt had been quelled by a joint drive of the army, the then BDR and police in Shafipur and by the BDR and police at Khilgaon. Helicopters, mortars, rocket launchers and machine guns were used to control the mutiny.

This time the army personnel, who had been deployed in aid of civil administration since the third week of July following quota reform movement, could control the unruly Ansar members around the secretariat. Many of them were detained.

Six army personnel were injured in an attack by Ansar members in the Secretariat area during the incident on Sunday night, said an ISPR release.

More than 4,000 Ansar members were sued on Monday for “obstructing police work” in front of the Bangladesh Secretariat.

A Dhaka court on Monday sent 382 Ansar members to jail in several cases filed over clashes with the students in front of the Secretariat.

“We could avert a serious situation as the Ansar members were unarmed. Still, it was a mutiny as they were in uniform and many of them were on security duty in different parts of the country,” said a senior official of Bangladesh Ansar and VDP, who wished not to be named due to official reasons.

A retired army general, who was director general of Ansar and VDP during a caretaker government, said the siege to Bangladesh Secretariat by uniformed Ansars and holding the new interim government’s advisers as well as secretaries, other top officials and even Ansars’ own DG hostage, was no less than a mutiny.

Ansar is a disciplined force by law. The Ansar Battalion Law 2023 was enacted during the Awami League inserting provisions for penalties up to life imprisonment and death for different crimes, including mutiny and provocation for rebellion, BSS reported after the passage of the bill.

As per the law, “mutiny” happens “when two or more members of the Ansar battalion jointly disobey any legal order of any authority of the disciplined force, or challenge the authority or make any attempt to resist, oust or engage in such activities.”

It says there will be two courts to hold trials for internal crimes of Ansar battalion members – Summary Ansar Battalion Court and Special Ansar Battalion Court.

Sunday’s rebellion took place despite the home ministry a day before had issued a notification that a committee, headed by DG of Ansar & VDP, will submit a report within seven working days and an inter-ministerial committee will decide on the report on their demands.

The demands included confirmation of their jobs under revenue budget and benefits like allowances, pension and ration for the entire family.

Now the battalion Ansar members get the benefits like other government law-enforcement agencies. The embodiment Ansars get a monthly salary of Tk16,000-17,000, one unit ration and a compensation of Tk8 lakh in case of death while on duty, but nothing if someone dies during “rest period” which is 3-9 months after every three years.

There are 17,850 battalion Ansar members in 42 battalions across the country while the number of embodiment Ansars who had been demonstrating since the changeover in the country in early August is 58,000.

Intelligence gatherings found when the embodiment Ansars started raising their voice for job confirmation, a section of current and former Ansar officers, close to the past regime or illegal beneficiaries, provoked them to take their movement to a no-return stage.

The agencies so far listed six officials at Ansar Headquarters, including three deputy DGs and three directors, and eight deputy directors who are also district commandants for inciting the agitation to turn it into a mutiny.

“We consider it to be a part of the design to destabilise the country and disturb the interim government after similar protests or demonstrations by some other groups we witnessed since the regime change,” said an official looking after the matter.

A number of Ansar officials said the auxiliary para-military force was heavily politicised from the top level during the past Awami League government.

One of them referred to Ansar-VDP’s unconventional road-march and cycle rally to pay tribute to Sheikh Kamal and Sheikh Russel. “All these were done at the directive of the top level and they did it for their own promotions or benefits,” he said.

TBS talked to a number of BCS (Ansar) officers who said they sympathised with genuine demands of the embodiment Ansars, including a pay hike and withdrawing their “rest period” as they remain unpaid for months at that time.

But, the officials think the temporary Ansar members who come from the poorest of the poor section of the society were misled and pushed to a mutiny-like situation to exploit something else in the current situation following the ouster of Sheikh Hasina government.

Sources concerned said that some 10,000 to 12,000 youths were enlisted as embodiment Ansar members during the past regime. Despite all of them being recommended by ruling party leaders, they had to pay bribes.

“They had been assured of regular jobs like battalion Ansars. But, once they joined, they saw the picture was different. It might be one reason for their resentment and a quarter tried to exploit it,” said an Ansar officer.

He also asked to note that Ansar members who showed unruliness in the past week leading to a mutiny on Sunday were mostly recruited for the service during the past government.

Officials said that there was a commitment from top level of the past government to regularise jobs or materialise due demands of the embodiment Ansars, but the past hierarchy only prioritised their own fortune, not the ordinary Ansar personnel’s.

If their jobs cannot be made permanent due to practical financial reasons of the country, one of the officials recommended that the embodiment Ansars could be deployed in all government establishments which can help enhance the pay for temporary Ansar members and free them from the so-called unpaid “rest period”.

“Ansar Guard Battalion proved their worth in discharging securities for foreigners when the government withdrew protocol police personnel for diplomats. They were given short training and they performed well,” he said.