Dhaka: Bangladesh formally renamed its mutiny-infested paramilitary frontier force as the Border Guard of Bangladesh (BGB) under a massive reconstruction campaign, also changing its laws, uniform and monogram.
Prime Minister Shaikh Hasina revealed the BGB flag during a brief ceremony at the frontier force's Pilkhana headquarters in the capital — the scene of the February 25-26, 2009 carnage when 74 people including 57 army officers serving the paramilitary troops, previously called Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), were killed.
The BGB troops offered her an honour guard while she asked the border guards to be imbued with a renewed spirit of protecting the country's frontier — while maintaining rules — to evade a repetition of the February 25-26 episode.
"Every force of the country will have to abide by their laws to evade any unfortunate event in future... I believe you clearly understand from the core of your heart what damage could be caused if it is violated," she told the ceremony joined by several senior government leaders and civil and military officials.
Hasina, however, said the culprits of the February 2009 rebellion would be brought to justice so no one dared to stage any such incident in the future.
The frontier force often described as the "first line of defence" recently introduced a new law stipulating death for mutiny.
The development came after President Zillur Rahman, last month, endorsed a parliamentary bill suggesting the frontier's force's reconstruction under a government plan to restructure the frontier force to help overcome the carnage stigma.
