BANGLA PRESS vs BANGLA ARMY

The new government of Sheikh Hasina Wajed has increased the allocation for the military by six percent over last year´s budget. Defence expenditure now stands at more than 20 percent of Bangladesh´s national budget. What has astounded all, however, is that there is no line item description of expenditure..When Finance Minister A.M.S. Kibria was questioned at the post-budget press conference on this sudden largesse for the military, he said that a strong army was necessary for maintaining the country´s security. Mr Kibria also said there was no need for the general public to know about the different heads of expenditure. Why? It could harm national security. As if that was not brazen enough, there was a press release from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) with the caveat that the public should abstain from discussing military matters..Fortunately, the Bangladeshi press is energetic enough not to heed that advice. The ISPR was slammed on the front pages by the daily Bhorer Kagoz, incidentally, a day after the paper carried news on speculation in the Indian press on the Bangladesh army´s involvement in the Purulia arms dropping incident earlier this year. That story did have the army´s rebuttal but also criticised its public relations..The armed forces of Bangladesh, as is true with some others in the region, are generally not used to being questioned. Raised under an atmosphere of great immunity from criticism and scrutiny of information-seeking civilians–including the legislature and the press–the generals live in a world apart. This is partly a legacy of the British and the Pakistanis. Almost everything about the army, both by practice and tradition, is a secret and the army uses a host of agencies to make sure that it stays that way. It has been successful till date, but whether the level of success will hold, only the future will tell..Bangladeshis are justifiably proud of their army for the role it played during the war for independence. That was also when the military and civilians came close, for their collaboration was vital in winning the war. This legacy of mutual trust would have remained had the army not got involved in civilian matters. For, what the army sees as a security issue is more likely a political issue, and that is how the media will represent it to the public. Thus, there is a clash of domains every time between 'security needs' and the 'right to know'..The demands for more transparency in the military budget will not go away, because the present and future governments cannot ratchet down the level of press freedom enjoyed in the country, which is by now almost institutionalised. The days when it was possible to muzzle the press are probably over. Earlier, threats from the ISPR–manned, interestingly, by civilians–used to work. Day by day, the department is becoming ineffective..Bhorer Kagoz and the Daily Star, the two leading dailies, have criticised what they termed, 'the highly patronising tone of the army press releases'. Kagoz editor Matiur Rahman has also written some hardhitting signed pieces questioning the role of the army and its accountability to the people. What is most interesting in all this is that the paper is owned by tycoon Saber Hossain Chowdhury, who also happens to be an MP of the ruling Awami League representing a prestigious Dhaka constituency..If the confrontation between the army and the press is to be settled, it is the army which will have to make the adjustment. Although glorified for its role in 1971, the men in khaki did lose more than a few popularity points during the Ershad era. The army pretty much stayed in the barracks during the subsequent period of the Khaleda Zia government in order to promote a hands-off-from-politics image, and the Dhaka intelligentsia believes that it should stay that course..However, building an image is one thing and justifying its actions quite another. The army´s traditional attitude of not being answerable for what it does, how much it spends, on what, its perks and benefits, and its clandestine involvements in civil security matters, may all become prickly publicly-debated issues. As is happening in the ongoing scrutiny of the army´s role in the 'abducted-and-still-not-found' case of Kalpana Chakma, the Organising Secretary of the Hill Students Federation. (The army has steadfastly denied its involvement but the credibility-quotient is low ).The to-do regarding the military budget is just the latest in a series of controversies that have dogged the army, coming as it does in the wake of a possible takeover, counter takeover, and sacking of the army chief and his lieutenants in June, just days before the national elections. With the Bangladeshi Army, there is never a dull moment.