Bangladeshi made chief of an Ivory Coast village

[Alien]

Bangladeshi made chief of an Ivory Coast village


The Bangladeshi forces of the UN Peace Keeping Mission have won the love and trust of the people of Ivory Coast so much that the people of a village have made a Bangladeshi army officer their honorary chief.

According to the local tradition, the village chief is the most honourable person and the guardian of a village. Villagers accept the chief's decisions as the final word and implement those without any hesitation.


Contingent Commander Bangladesh Battalion-4 (Banbat-4) Lt Col Md Jahangir Talukder was given the honour in Lazarekro village in December last year. His battalion is posted in Yamaoussoukro, the administrative capital of the Peace Mission's East Sector.


On July 15, a Bangladeshi Peace Mission delegation of 18 that included some journalists from Bangladesh visited the village. The Lazarekro villagers on that day honoured the head of the delegation Brig Gen Rafiqul Islam as the "village king".


The villagers felt that Rafiqul should be honoured as a king as he was superior to their "village chief" Jahangir.


A village chief is so powerful in Ivory Coast that villagers usually not even talk with foreigners without his permission. If the central government wants to do something in the villages, they must do it through the chiefs or take their consent, though the post of a chief is not a government one.


The village chief is a hereditary position. But when there is a lack of successor, the villagers collectively decide about a new chief.


An incident taking place a few months ago exemplifies the degree of respect and dignity a chief possesses. In December, miscreants beat up a chief near a major city called Bouake and sent him to hospital. The locals believed the Ivorian national Army was behind it. This belief created strong resistance and as a result Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo could not come to Yamoussoukro for several months.

Eventually, Gbagbo sent a special representative to the locals, negotiated with them and after that could make his planned visit.


The village king on the other hand is superior to a band of several village chiefs combined. A group of 10 to 12 villages has one such king. Besides, the townspeople also have their own chiefs.


Prior to the Bangladeshi delegation's visit to Lazarekro on July 15, Lt Col Jahangir discussed the trip with the villagers.


The villagers spontaneously decided to honour the head of the delegation. They discussed it with the nearby chiefs and the concerned village king and decided to honour Brig Gen Rafiqul as the village king. Intriguingly, they did not forget to take Jahangir's permission.


At the coronation, Rafiqul was given a traditional dress, a king's crown and a thick gold chain to wear around his neck. He was handed over a sceptre and a throne to sit on. No villager is allowed to wear the same special dress given to the chief and the king.


Then followed indigenous rituals and a cultural programme where villagers performed traditional songs and dances.


Afterwards, the villagers presented the king with agricultural products that they had produced. As per tradition he was presented with a goat. Later Brig Gen Rafiqul distributed these gifts among the villagers.


During the ceremony, Lazarekro declared friendship between his village and chief Jahangir's village Balihari in Haripur upazila of Thakurgaon district of Bangladesh.

As part of formality for this symbolic friendship, Jahangir was given a village chief's traditional dress designated for the Balahari village chief. The innocent Ivorians believe that like them, Bangladeshi villages must also have chiefs.


Such a display of respect for Bangladeshi troops is not limited to Lazarekro. This kind of attitude towards Bangladeshi peacekeepers is common in other villages under the east and west sectors of the UN Peace Keeping Mission in Ivory Coast.


The show of respect even found its way in Ivory Coast's educational city Yamoussoukro where all educational institutions invite Bangladeshi peacekeepers as special guests at their year-ending ceremony or prize distribution ceremony. The officers are often seen handing over the prizes to the winner students.


Like Banbat-4, two other Bangladeshi battalions Banbat-1 and Banbat-3 are also very popular among the local people, noted local journalists of Yamoussoukro.

"Bangladeshi contingents are always near to the people. That is why they are popular among the Ivorians," said Ousmane Diallo, a local journalist.


Everywhere else in Ivory Coast Bangladeshi troops stand for cooperation and helping hands. Beyond their designated duties, the Bangladeshi troops always try to help the local people solve various problems.


"We have gained some of their confidence," Lt Col Jahangir told The Daily Star. He credited his predecessor commander Col Humayun Bakht (presently Brig Gen) for this popularity.

"He started these things and I have tried to improve upon that. We try to help the local people in every way."

The impoverished Lazarekro village is located 25 kilometres off Yamoussoukro city in a remote location. To go there, one has to drive about 13 kilometres of de-shaped earthen road through a jungle. There is no supply of electricity and water.


A Lazarekro villager who works in Yamoussoukro met Lt Col Jahangir requesting him to make a visit to his village. The friendship between this village and Bangladesh began from this point. Banbat-4 members then extended helping hand to the villagers to develop it.


Jahangir has sought UN help to install a deep tube-well in the village to permanently solve the water crisis. He is hopeful that it will be resolved soon.

"That would be the great achievement for this village," he said.


He has also tried to improve the road infrastructure of Lazarekro. Such help has made the Bangladeshi troops trustworthy for the villagers.

That is why the villagers had made Jahangir their honorary chief in December last year. That function was attended by Yamoussoukro's political leaders, representative of the city's governor, other local important personalities and UN mission officials.





"They've seen that foreign troops like us are helping them. In return they've honoured us. I don't have any power over that village," Jahangir noted.


People of Lazarekro village in Ivory Coast, made Contingent Commander Bangladesh Battalion-4 Lt Col Md Jahangir Talukder, with the specs, honorary chief and Brig Gen Rafiqul Islam, sitting down, honorary village king as the Bangladeshi force in UN mission there achieved the love and friendship of the villagers.

Link to Daily Star

[Hatebreed]

It's a great to see our troops getting so much respect. I'm really proud of their efforts in helping these people.

[ammark]

And yesterday the UN started a probe into alleged sexual abuse by peacekeepers in Ivory Coast too. So seriously, that the whole force in the town of Bouake is currently not allowed to leave barracks. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6909664.stm

[Rabz]

Hail to the Chief!!

[Puck]

ofter getting rid of emperors, kings and colonial overlords it seems the bengali spirit is still keen to rule over other or accept the rule of an unelected individual!

as for accusations of sexual harassment, unfortunatelty, at ground level there are many more accusations. very few get printed in the news media because stories need to be corroborated to an extent. soldiers are soldiers whichever nation they hail from. if there are women around camps, there would be problems.

[uss01]

I thought Bangladeshi UN soldiers have a good reputation on the sexual crimes issue. I know indian and sri lankan troops got into trouble in Africa. But so far I haven't heard of BD troops doing the same. Anyone else know about any BD troops doing these types of crimes?

Originally Posted by Puck
ofter getting rid of emperors, kings and colonial overlords it seems the bengali spirit is still keen to rule over other or accept the rule of an unelected individual!

as for accusations of sexual harassment, unfortunatelty, at ground level there are many more accusations. very few get printed in the news media because stories need to be corroborated to an extent. soldiers are soldiers whichever nation they hail from. if there are women around camps, there would be problems.

[ammark]

Originally Posted by uss01
Anyone else know about any BD troops doing these types of crimes?

yes, its sufficiently documented in the news media. Google is your friend.

[uss01]

Hmm i found some new articles about the sudan incidents only. I am hoping these are the only cases, but could be more. What can I say, I'm just shocked.

Originally Posted by ammark
yes, its sufficiently documented in the news media. Google is your friend.

[mijanur]

bd will be rocking by 2023

[Rabz]

Did you mean to say we will be digitally rocking by 2023??

[Puck]

i thought the rocking had already started?

[Akib]

Good for him. Nice to see some respect shown.

[mijanur]

Originally Posted by Rabz
Did you mean to say we will be digitally rocking by 2023??

every aspect