What is happening in Bangladesh?
A mutiny by border guards that started in the capital Dhaka – where 4,000 guards are based – appears to be spreading around the country. The prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, who was sworn into office only last month, has appealed for calm while at the same time threatening harsh action against mutineers. As many as 50 people are thought to have died, with television reports claiming the troops killed a major general. Government officials say the mutineers in Dhaka have agreed to surrender but there are reports of violence breaking out in other parts of the country. The mutiny began only a day after Hasina met senior border guard officers at an annual parade and told them her government would do its best to modernise the paramilitary forces.
Why did the border guards mutiny?
A revolt has been brewing since the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), the official name for the paramilitary units, first called for pay parity with regular soldiers six months ago. The guards feel they are treated as second class citizens; their officers come from the regular army not their own ranks and they do not get paid as much as army troops. Guards rely on government rations of rice, flour and sugar to supplement their incomes of about £70 a month and food prices have risen some 30% in recent months. The guards get the rations for just three months, but regular soldiers receive rations all year. Another bugbear seems to be that border guards are not sent abroad for UN peacekeeping missions, where the pay is very good by Bangladeshi standards. The border guards say complaints about promotion and alleged corruption have been ignored.
What is the BDR?
A paramilitary force guarding the country's 2,750-mile border with India and Burma, the BDR consists of 67,000 personnel, with its headquarters in Dhaka. Britain, the former colonial power, organised its forerunner, the Ramgarh local battalion, in 1795. The battalion was succeeded by the Eastern Frontier Rifles, which guarded the frontier from 1891 to 1920, when it was disbanded. Border duties were assumed by the East Pakistan Rifles before Bangladesh's independence in 1971. The force was subsequently renamed Bangladesh Rifles.
How dangerous is the situation?
Bangladesh, one of the world's poorest countries with a population of 140 million, has witnessed a number of military coups and coup attempts. Hasina's party won a landslide election in December – the first election in seven years – and took over from a military-backed interim government with high hopes that the country, with a long record of political violence, was moving finally towards democracy and stability. There is already speculation in Dhaka that the unrest is in reality an attempted putsch. Hasina is the daughter of Mujibur Rahman, who led Bangladesh to independence in 1971 only to be murdered by officers who took power.
How has Hasina responded to the mutiny?
Hasina appealed to the troops to lay down their guns immediately and go back to their barracks. "Do not force me to take tough actions or push my patience beyond tolerable limits," she said in a national broadcast. "Give democracy and the economy a chance to develop." This is not what the new prime minister needed so early in her term. Hasina who heads the Awami League, beat Khaleda Zia, another former prime minister. The two belong to political dynasties and are fixtures of the political scene. Zia was elected prime minister in 1991, Hasina in 1996, and Zia again in 2001. Hasina's Awami League is seen as relatively secular and liberal, while Zia has allies among Islamists. Both were jailed on corruption charges in 2007, which they dismissed as politically motivated.