Heroes beyond national frontiers
Photo: Militaryimages.net
On 27th May 2011, nation received a text message from Armed Forces Division which reads as follows: On "International Day of UN Peacekeepers", May 29, we pay tribute to all peacekeepers and are proud to be number one in UN peacekeeping in the world AFD. It was indeed very good news for the nation to be the leader of Peacekeeping in the World competing with other professional Armed Forces. It is not the first time that we become a world leader; we have been the leader in 2005 too. Thanks to UN and AFD for remembering us and the sacrifice made by our friends and colleagues to bring peace throughout the globe. But this leadership in peacekeeping did not come in a day or two. Bangladesh Armed Forces had to sacrifice a lot to come to this state. Bangladesh is a peace loving country and constitutionally obligated for the promotion of international peace, security and solidarity. Thus responded to international request by sending her peacekeepers in the year 1988 with the participation of 25 UNMOs (United Nations Military Observer) in Namibia to assists UNTAG (United Nations Transition Assistance Group) in Africa and 15 UNMOs in UNIIMOG (United Nations Iran-Iraq Military Observer Group) in Iraq. Bangladesh Army selected its best trained military officers to undertake this new international assignment. The works of these 40 finest officers have been carried on over the last 22 years by subsequent Peacekeepers as a result we became number one in Peacekeeping in the year 2005 and had been maintaining our position within one or two since then. Now again we have become the leader of peacekeeping in the world today. What an achievement for the country like Bangladesh whose image outside the world is a poverty stricken, overpopulated country vulnerable to cyclone, natural disasters, strikes, political turmoil, shortage of power, traffic jam and champion in corruption. But this achievement did not come easily. We had to work very hard day and night competing with multinational officers and men who were also equally determined to take their flag above other nations at times endangering our lives too. In the first mission in Namibia, Lt Colonel Faizul Kabir died in Road Accident, Maj Ashraf (later became colonel) lost one of his hand. My friend, Maj Alam (now Brigadier) narrowly survived and hospitalized in South Africa at level 3 hospitals along with others. Major Abul Hossain another finest brilliant Officer of Signal Corps lost his life in a minefield in Georgia. In Benin we lost 29 Peacekeepers at a time. There are many more fallen peace keepers whose sacrifice has enriched our peace keeping history. Over the years the Job of UN Peace keepers have become more complex, diversified and challenging. It is no more a simple observer mission now. Mr. Kofi Annan the former Secretary General realized the complexity of modern peace keeping mission and said, "UN peacekeeping operations are now increasingly complex and multi-dimensional, going beyond monitoring a ceasefire to actually bringing failed States back to life, often after decades of conflict. The blue helmets and their civilian colleagues work together to organize elections, enact police and judicial reform, promote and protect human rights, conduct mine-clearance, advance gender equality, achieve the voluntary disarmament of former combatants, and support the return of refugees and displaced people to their homes." Mr. Kofi Annan came to Bangladesh in March 2001 and in an address he said, "This may be my first visit to Bangladesh as Secretary-General, but Bangladesh has always loomed large in my awareness, and in that of the United Nations. Bangladeshis are among the world's most willing and able peacekeepers. The United Nations-Bangladesh partnership is strong, ready for the challenges of a new century." Most modern peacekeeping missions are conducted under chapter VII and thus degree of risk and sacrifice is also more in such mission. Highlighting the sacrifice of Peace keepers UN Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki-moon said, "Today, we have more than 110,000 men and women deployed in conflict zones around the world. They come from nearly 120 countries -- an all-time high, reflecting confidence in United Nations peacekeeping. They come from nations large and small, rich and poor -- some of the countries recently afflicted by war themselves. They bring different cultures and experiences to the job, but they are united in their determination to foster peace. Some are in uniform, but many are civilians and their activities go far beyond monitoring." Mr. Ban Ki-moon's words testify what we do in UN mission. Over the years our officers have provided leadership in the United Nations Peace Keeping Operations composed of multinational soldiers. It started with the service of our officers in UNIIMOG and UNTAG. Lt Col (now Maj Gen retd) Fazley Elahi Akbar along with him 14 other officers have been able to create the first impression of Bangladeshi Officers for the first time in UN Mission. They were followed by another group of officers headed by Lieutenant Colonel (later became Brigadier and died) Shabab Ashfaque. He played very active role and had been able to convince the decision makers and thus created the opportunity for Bangladesh to lead the multinational forces. When Chief Military Observer (CMO) Brig Gen V M Patil of India left Iraq after completion of his tenure of duties, Brig Gen Shahedul Anam Khan, came as a CMO (Chief Military Observer) in UNIIMOG (United Nations Iraq-Iran Observer Group). He was the first ever Bangladeshi Officer to be appointed in such a prestigious appointment at that time. Followed by Observer mission in Iraq and Namibia, the opportunity came for Bangladesh to send troops to UN mission in Cambodia. Minor Tigers (3 East Bengal Regiment) a war veteran of 1971 was selected to serve in UN mission under the leadership of Lieutenant Colonel (Now Brig Gen retd) Kamaluzzaman. It was a great testing ground for Bangladeshi Officer for UN higher leadership. Lieutenant Colonel Kamal did not fail the test. It was a new mission in Cambodia and Bangladesh Battalion was deployed in a most disturbed region where the Khmer Rouge guerillas were dominating. Bangladesh being new in such type of mission was not prepared to support such mission logistically. No system was developed at that moment. As such troops did not get pay for months. It was a daunting task for the Commanding Officer to lead the Battalion overseas. But Colonel Kamaluzzaman was a cool headed dynamic personality. Assisted by his Operation Officer Major (now colonel retd) Ahmed Ullah Imam Khan, he formulated his concept of operation based on our experience of serving in counter-insurgency operation in Chittagong Hill Tracts. It gave them dividend to bring control of the Khmer Rouge dominated territory. He and his men taught the villagers preparing field toilets, water purification system, preparations of oral saline, use of anti-snake bite kit; conducted anti-malarial campaign, treated number of sick and wounds from own resources. Even at times troops shared their food with the poor Cambodians. It worked miracle and changed the attitude of locals and guerillas towards peacekeepers. UN learned from Bangladesh and gave name to these humanitarian operations as CIMIC (Civil Military Cooperation). Today, I would like to salute them and others who have served and still serving for their invaluable contribution and making us proud for becoming number one in UN Peace Keeping Operations and recall the words of Hubert Humphrey by saying "The heroes of the world community are not those who withdraw when difficulties ensue, not those who can envision neither the prospect of success nor the consequence of failure -- but those who stand the heat of battle, the fight for world peace through the United Nations." The Officers and men who made us proud are our true heroes beyond national frontiers.
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