Bombs in Bangladesh

If the state of human security of Bangladeshis over the last five years or so is assessed, it presents a ghastly scenario. Fourteen bomb explosions in Sylhet region alone since 1997, say press reports, have killed 23 people and injured many more, but the attackers have always gone scot-free as the law enforcement agencies had failed to give a reasonable explanation of the motives let alone bringing the criminals to book.

If we look back at the bomb incidents over the last seven years in which 134 persons were killed, no one knows who actually masterminded the bomb attack on the CPB rally at Paltan Maidan or on the movie-houses in Mymensingh. Although the leading political parties levelled charges against each other, no proof was actually provided by investigators.

Ten concert-goers were killed in an explosion at an Udichi function on March 6, 1999, and eight more were bombed to death at a Kadiani Mosque in Khulna on October 8 in the same year. Seven people were killed in near-simultaneous bomb blasts at the CPB rally and near the AL office on January 20, 2001. Before the wounds of the scars could heal, the Ramna Batamul bloodbath claimed another 10 innocent lives on April 14, 2001. Then came the mindless killing of 10 people in a Baniyachar Church bomb attack on June 3, 2001. Barely 12 days later, an explosion at the AL office in Narayanganj killed 22 people. Eight people were killed in an attack on Bagerhat AL rally on September 23, 2001 and three in a Satkhira cinema explosion on September 28, 2002. Twenty-one moviegoers were blown up in bomb explosions in four Mymensingh cinemas on December 6, 2002. In the most recent Bogra ammunition and explosives haul, police seized nearly 100,000 bullets and 200kg of explosives.

There were also a number of disturbing incidents. These include recovery of 76kg explosives and bombs from Gopalganj where former prime minister Sheikh Hasina was supposed to address a rally and recovery of bombs from the Daily Janakantha premises, a Kadiani mosque in Dhaka, a mosque in Mirpur, and from other places.

In each of these incidents, the then AL government blamed the "fundamentalist forces" that joined hands with the main opposition party, the BNP, for the crimes. And when such incidents surfaced under the present BNP government, it took no time to shift the blame on to the AL.

Following the Udichi incident, the then prime minister Sheikh Hasina called upon the opposition saying: "Give up the politics of bomb explosion and come to parliament." In response, the BNP demanded a judicial inquiry into the blast. Later, the then leader of the opposition Khaleda Zia said, "The incident was done by the AL and it is now framing the BNP." Following the CPB incident, Khaleda held the government responsible for the blast and the then home minister accused the BNP and Jamaat of the killings. In the wake of the Mymensingh cinema explosions in 2002, the government became hyperactive to arrest AL stalwarts and intellectuals within hours. They were released upon High Court intervention and no charges have been pressed against any one of them so far. In the Narayanganj incident that took place during the AL regime, cases were filed against a number of BNP activists. When the BNP took office, the police filed the final report saying the allegations against the accused could not be proved. But in a strange twist, a new case was filed accusing a number of AL activists.

This practice of blaming each other shifted the focus of investigators to nowhere and destroyed the cases one after another. Investigators believed that none of the incidents actually had anything to do with the internal politics of the AL and BNP. There are indications that some other forces succeeded to remain invisible because of the general lack of political will to uncover the truth, punish the real criminals and take effective measures to protect the nation from such brutal acts.

Bomb culture
These incidents clearly indicate that the bomb culture -- in terms of production, smuggling and unlawful use -- has set in, in the country. Bombs have become an essential tool in the country's political arena. A keen observation would reveal that bombs are being used for: a) creating panic, b) avenging enmity, and c) killing. Bombing and the threat of being bombed are harsh realities in today's world. People around the globe are becoming more aware of violence perpetrated through the illegal use of explosives. Law enforcement agencies world-wide are charged with providing protection for life and property.

Bomb making, these days, has become child's play. Bombs can be constructed to look like almost anything and can be placed or delivered in any number of ways. The probability of finding a bomb that looks like the stereotypical bomb is almost non-existent.

The only common denominator of bombs is that they are designed or intended to explode. Most bombs that have been found in Bangladesh are either home-made or smuggled grenades.

Tackling bombs
Recent bomb attacks and threats were quite serious in nature and have left the law enforcing and intelligence agencies in Bangladesh baffled. A state of high alert was put on August 10 at three international airports -- Dhaka, Chittagong, and Sylhet -- in the wake of terrorist attacks. Students, teachers, and employees of Dhaka University went into panic on August 11 following a bomb scare on the campus. Students and teachers of 4 schools in Sylhet's Shibganj area got panic-stricken following a bomb threat. Security measures were stepped up at Syedpur airport following the bomb scares at three international airports.

To be honest, our police and intelligence didn't know what to do in the wake of these threats. Bomb threats can be delivered in a variety of ways. The majority of threats are called in to the target. But are our police and intelligence departments thinking about these aspects? Are they doing any homework for future bomb attacks and threats? We doubt that. How trained is our police department to identify the caller? In recent times, they have failed to detect sources of telephonic threats over the last two weeks.

Usually, when a bomb is found or detected, the members of the army are usually called in to tackle the situation or examine the device. There's no doubt that the army can tackle bombs much better than the police or any other security agency in Bangladesh. But unfortunately, the army too does not have a specialised unit that deals with explosives. If it really had such a unit, they would have dealt the incidents in a different way -- a professional way. But they didn't. For example, when a bomb was found in Kotalipara some years back, a picture of an army officer, wearing a motorbike-riding helmet, was flashed in the newspapers. The officer was not even wearing a bomb suit when he was examining or trying to defuse the bomb.

As protection, the person who defuses explosive devices usually wears a heavy specialised suit made of Kevlar, which is a type of high strength synthetic fibre. Kevlar is very strong and very light, weight for weight about five times as strong as steel. This is due to its chemical content which can increase the person's chance of survival should the device explode. Evidently, our security forces don't have that kind of protection (or knowledge) whenever they are called in to tackle a bomb-related situation.

Civil defence
In the wake of any bomb threat, people usually become panic-stricken which can also lead to many accidents. Bomb threats represent a serious and deadly situation that can quickly turn tragic. The destructive potential of even a small device must be seriously considered. What should a resident do after receiving a telephonic bomb threat? What should a resident do if he or she finds a suspicious item that might be a bomb? What should the residents do if they receive suspicious packages in the mail? What should they say to a caller when he warns of a bomb at their location?

Do we -- as citizens -- have any answer to the above questions? Bomb explosions and threats have become a part or our lives. But so far our governments or the law enforcing agencies have done nothing to aware the people with some civil defence mechanism.

This is equally true of cases of impending disasters like dengue epidemic, floods etc. Why? How much does it take to initiate civil defence awareness among the people? Just their will, we suppose?

The situation in Bangladesh has gone to such extent that it is time we had bomb preparedness. Why prepare? Because through proper preparation, we can reduce the accessibility of our business or building and identify those areas that can be a target of a potential bomber. If a bomb incident occurs, proper planning will instil confidence in people, the leadership, reinforce the notion that those in charge do care, and reduce the potential for personal injury and property loss. Proper planning can also reduce the threat of panic, the most contagious of all human emotions. Panic is sudden, excessive, unreasoning, infectious terror.

Need for a bomb squad
In preparing to cope with bomb incidents, it has now become necessary to develop a bomb squad. If we had a bomb squad, the tragic incident at the Awami League rally could have been avoided. Not only the AL rally, many such explosions could have been prevented. In Bangladesh, only by using an established organisation and procedures can the bomb incident be handled with the least risk to all concerned.

The home ministry has just decided to set up a separate investigation unit in each police station across the country to ensure proper and prompt probes into criminal cases. Setting up bomb squads in each police station across the country would not also be a bad idea. It is suggested the bomb squad should include people from the armed forces, police, intelligence agencies and fire fighters, with a central chain of command from the capital.

The job of the bomb squad would, first, be to seal the sources from where explosives are being proliferated in the country. And then, they are expected to respond to bomb attacks and threats. It would be their responsibility to identify a caller, to evacuate a target, scan the site of a big gathering, etc. When a bomb unit is set up and goes into operation, it would then see how much there is to do about explosives in Bangladesh.

Ekram Kabir, a Dhaka-based journalist, has a published study on Unauthorised Small Arms in Bangladesh.