Bangladesh uprising quashed after tanks roll into Dhaka

The Times (UK) ^ | 02/27/09 | Jeremy Page & Fariha Karim

[TigerLikesRooster]

Bangladesh uprising quashed after tanks roll into Dhaka

A tank rumbles towards the Dhaka headquarters of the Bangladesh Rifles where the mutineers were holed up

(Pavel Rahman/AP)

Jeremy Page, South Asia Correspondent, and Fariha Karim in Dhaka

Thousands of mutinous Bangladeshi border guards surrendered last night in the capital after two days of fighting that claimed at least 18 lives, but the rebellion appeared to be spreading to other parts of the country.

Dozens of officers were unaccounted for after the paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) occupying their headquarters in Dhaka lay down their arms. The head of the BDR, Major-General Shakil Ahmed, was among the dead.

Thousands more members of the BDR continued their rebellion in other parts of the country to demand better pay and working conditions. Police said that the mutiny had spread to 15 of the 64 districts where the 42,000-strong force is posted.

The mutiny does not appear to be part of a military coup attempt — a real threat in a country that has witnessed several successful and failed putsches since winning independence from Pakistan in 1971. It does, however, represent the most serious challenge yet for a Government that took charge after an election in December ended two years of army-backed emergency rule.

[TigerLikesRooster]

[txnativegop]

Coming soon to an American city near you too . . . .

[hinckley buzzard]

Bangladesh--a filthy sh*thole ruled by filthy a-holes. Should have let the floods wash them away forty years ago.

[Palladin]

Bangladesh? I’m shocked. I thought those guys were all too undernourished to mount a revolution.

[SevenofNine]

Another unrest in that country OH LORDY LOL!

[Cronos]

Bangladesh? I’m shocked. I thought those guys were all too undernourished to mount a revolution.

Actually Bangladesh lies on some of the most fertile land on the earth -- where two rivers bring rich alluvial soil down from the himalayas. Yes, it does flood during the monsoons, but then there is refreshed, rich, fertile, land. This land was where the great wealth of ancient India (during the period from 900 BC to 1100 AD) came from. But thenIslamm came and the people were, ahem, persuaded to become followers of Mo.

[Palladin]

That is an interesting piece of history that I did not know about.

Thank you!

[Cronos]

No worries — if you do a bit of digging up you will see that some of the greatest empires started around that end of the ganges — Buddha himself was from Eastern India