'Civil-military relations amicable'

Although former president HM Ershad gave all facilities to the military and handpicked all three chiefs of staff, the armed forces did not support him in his semi-disclosed desire to use force to quell political opposition between October and December in 1990, he said.

The decision of the armed forces not to promulgate military rule in 1990 was appreciated by people and dramatically improved mutual relations, he said at Shaheed Jamil Ahmed Memorial Trust Fund Lecture-2003 on Civil-Military Relationship and the Role of the Defence Services in Disaster Management and Peacekeeping.

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The former major general observed that the image of the armed forces that suffered because of the assassinations of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, former president Ziaur Rahman and for coups and counter-coups, has also enhanced over the years.

Intervention of the armed forces in disaster management, peacekeeping missions abroad and development programmes paved the path for civil-military relations and improved their image, he said at the event organised by the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh at its office.

He observed that the armed forces could never run a civilian government.

General Ibrahim said governments and people enjoyed the benefits of military assistance in improving law and order and such interactions helped establish people-military amity.

He said governments sought armed forces' assistance at least 52 times in the past 32 years.

Responding to a question, Ibrahim said all officers and soldiers of the Rakhhi Bahini, raised by the Bangabandhu government after independence, were entirely Bangladeshi.

The force that committed some excesses might have some foreign instructors, he said.

The Rakhhi Bahini cannot be held responsible for the excesses, the onus goes to them who created the force, he said.

The creation of the force bred a feeling of discomfort in the armed forces that thought it as their alternative.

In reply to a question what measures are there to make the army democratic, general Ibrahim said the armed forces moved a long way into a democratic culture.

Presently, every cadet is taught democratic norms and attitudes during their training, he said, observing that more democratic values should be instilled into the military.

On showing due honour to assassinated colonel Jamil, he said the manners and mechanism of paying respect to the valiant sons of the soil was inadequate in Bangladesh.

The army may not be inspired to act on its own in such a politically sensitive issue, he added.

Professor M Harunur Rashid presided over the lecture session, also attended by Dhaka University professors Anwar Hossain and Anisuzzaman and wife of Colonel Jamil.