Bangladesh’s Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), an elite police force, has been successful in combating militancy and terrorism, but it has also become the target of nefarious propaganda run by agents of militants, terrorists, drug traffickers, and crime rackets. Pro-Islamist Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and pro-militancy Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) have spent millions of dollars on lobbyists to influence Western policymakers, particularly the US administration against RAB, resulting in the imposition of sanctions by the US Department of Treasury in December 2021 for “serious human rights violations.”
Despite the United States’ past support for RAB’s anti-terrorism activities, intensive public relations by anti-government Bangladeshi communities living in the United States, along with dubious propaganda by various international human rights organizations (DW), have played a significant role in establishing these allegations. Ten US senators on October 27, 2020, in a letter to then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Munchin, requested the imposition of “targeted sanctions” against RAB’s senior commanders.
After the imposition of sanctions , Bangladesh protested the unreasonable sanctions of the United States and vowed to stand by its position. During the US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Donald Lu’s January 2023 Bangladesh visit, he praised RAB’s progress and said that the elite force is able to carry out its function while respecting human rights.
The Bangladesh Prime Minister’s Security Adviser Major General (retired) Tarique Ahmed Siddique has accused some elements within the country, in collaboration with international non-government organizations, of conspiring to disband RAB. In a survey conducted by the government after a human rights body published its report, 95% of the people in Bangladesh consider RAB a friendly force and feel its necessity.
Major General (retired) Tarique Ahmed Siddique stated that the writing against RAB is part of a conspiracy, and evidence indicates that the writers have involvement with militancy. He also accused a national newspaper editor of assisting militants and holding a meeting with them. However, he stated that the prime minister does not believe in harassing journalists.
In a recent report on Financial Express , the United States spokesperson expressed hope that the Bangladeshi government would investigate the accusations made against the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in a propaganda video and article produced by the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) .
Misconceptions about RAB have been spread, comparing its successful operations to those of US law enforcement agencies, which frequently result in “neutralizing” culprits for the sake of saving lives. In both the cases of US forces eliminating Al Qaeda kingpins Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, the US administration has openly boasted of their successes. The writer argues that the US needs to make it clear whether it is still sincere about the war on terror.
