TORTURE: ASIAN AND GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES | FEB-APR 2013
VOLUME 02 NUMBER 01
Mr. Muhammad Anisur Rahman is widely known by his pseudonym Anu Muhammad. At present, he is Professor of Economics at Jahangirnagar University. He is well-known as an economist and a political activist. His research interests include globalization, social transformation, gender, NGO’s, and energy based economy and politics with a focus on Bangladesh. He has been leading a movement as Member Secretary of the ‘National Committee to Protect Oil Gas, Mineral Resources, Port and Power’. He has been tortured by the law-enforcement agencies of Bangladesh for his active protests against the government’s secret agreements with multinational companies that want to control the mineral resources of Bangladesh. Professor Muhammad has edited two books and authored more than 20 books. Torture Magazine interviewed Mr. Muhammad about the Rapid Action Battalion in early February. The following is an English translation:
Torture Magazine: What was the backdrop for the creation of Rapid Action Battalion? Professor Anu Muhammad: The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) was actually established in 2002. We need to focus our attention the two specific dimensions of the world during that particular period. At the time of creating RAB we observed interests from the United States, Britain, and several international agencies. Another aspect was that in 2001 a new government came to power in Bangladesh. The state which we have is such that whichever regime assumes power they become repressive, as far as they can, for securing their power, and continue their efforts to strengthening their authority by coercive action. These efforts seem to be insufficient to them. Because, the crimes of those in power are so much that they create certain repercussion among the people. The authorities cannot always control, or prevent, the people’s growing response, i.e. the repercussion. As a result, people of different walks of life – from the workers of ready-made garment factories, to labourers and even floating populations– protest and express their disgust. The authorities wish to address these matters from the perspective of law and order and term such public protests as law and order problem. In reality, these are not problems related to law and order. These are symptoms or trends that expose the existing exploitation and discrimination
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in the society. The rulers wish to portray this as a law and order problem and claim to be representative of the people or ambassadors of peace. So, they [rulers] try to control the public protests for securing their power. They are always interested in renewing or strengthening the process of controlling mechanisms, which is a continuous process. It is my calculation about this country. We need more schools, colleges, hospitals and other basic institutions, while more resources are spent for repressive agencies. After 2001, when a new government came to power in Bangladesh, a new international trend had just been added – related to the collapse of the twin towers in 2001. After the demolition, United States made it an excuse and occasion for creating a sensation in the world in the name of ‘war on terror’. In order to expand influence, enroot the terroristic system, grab important territories in different countries, and create panic about enemies and exploit these excuses for the purpose of establishing a torturous and repressive system in the world. They [US] did this to the people of the whole world, and finally, they did the same thing to their own country. Then, it appeared that different nations received pressures, financial loans and pressures of signing agreements for creating new agencies and forces in the