Bangladesh ranked 24th in the world in spending on the import of military weapons, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Bangladesh upped its place to the 24th in 2012 from the 40th in 2011 after it had bought weapons worth $325 million (Tk 2530.3 crore), according to information available with the SIPRI, the Sweden-based independent resource on global security.
In the same year, neighbouring India ranked first with its import of weapons worth $4,764 million while China was the second importing weapons worth $1,689 million. Pakistan ranked fifth importing weapons worth $1,244 million.
According to the SIPRI statistics, Bangladesh imported military equipments and weapons worth $ 2,773 million between 1988 and 2012.
Economist Anu Muhammad said that the defence should be modernised but transparency in the arms purchase should be ensured.
There is taboo about the defence in the country and the issue of import of arms remains out of discussion, the economist said adding, ‘at the same time, there is scarcity of data relating to military purchases that cause doubt about transparency.’
‘As the purchase is made by public money,’ Anu said, ‘people have the right to know how their money is being spent…At least parliament should be
informed about the purchase in order to ensure transparency.’
He said, ‘We are not talking for disclosing state secrecy in parliament but we are willing to know how the money is being spent.’
On 29 January, the Transparency International UK in its index on 82 countries, reviewed corruption risk and corruption vulnerability in defence ministries and armed forces, placed Bangladesh in 15 high risk countries.
According to the data available with SIPRI, the Bangladesh governments significantly increase arms imports in the last year of their tenure.
Retired lieutenant general HM Ershad’s government had imported weapons worth $241 million in 1988, $305 million in 1989 and $189 million in 1990, when the regime was facing political turmoil for restoration of democracy.
Ershad, the Jatiya Party chairman and a lawmaker, however, currently is facing, among others, a trial for corruption in radar purchase for Bangladesh Air Force.
The spending on arms imports, however, dropped to $99 million in 1991 when the Bangladesh Nationalist Party assumed power.
In 1995, the last year of its tenure, the BNP government led by Khaleda Zia spent $119 million in arms imports, while the spending was $61 million in 1994.
The Awami League government led by Sheikh Hasina spent $185million in 1998 and $201million in 1999, the last two years of its tenure, on the import of weapons. The expenditure was $30 million in the first three years f its tenure.
After BNP-led alliance assumed power again in 2001, the now defunct Bureau of Anti-Corruption had filed a case against Hasina and others on August 7, 2002 on charge of causing loss of about Tk 747 crore to the state exchequer through corruption in the purchase of a frigate.
The bureau filed another case against Hasina and six others on December 11, 2001 on graft charges in the purchase of eight MiG-29 fighter planes.
The High Court, however, quashed the cases in 2010.
The BNP-led alliance government spent $221 million in 2006, the last year of its tenure, and $91 in the previous four years of the tenure on imports of military weapons and equipments.
The incumbent Awami League-led alliance government increased the expenditure to $235million in 2012 from $166 in 2011.
-With New Age input
