Bangladesh Army Takes Over Panigram

I arrived at the site yesterday and was completely surrounded by Army officers. They blocked the path that we normally take during the dry season to get to our site. Annoyed, I asked to speak with the commanding officer.

Major Alamgir was very friendly; in typical Bangladeshi fashion he invited me to tea. I explained to him that this was not a good site for him to conduct Army exercises as we are developing a luxury resort in the area and there are lots of villagers and children who come out to see our project. Somebody told me that the Army conducts military exercises here every six months. He explained that he would only be here for four or five more days, so I agreed to let him stay (there really is nothing else that I could do as the Army is the most powerful entity in the country!) but got him to agree that he would not cut down any of our trees or bamboo and that they would select another site for their exercises in the future. He also assured me that they would not use live ammunition in their exercises because I was very concerned about all of the children in the area. So for the next few days my interns and I will be dodging fox holes and booby traps…

Today I am writing a letter to the Major General of the Jessore Cantonement to let him know that this area will now be used for tourism and that the Army needs to find another site for their military exercises.

One plus side of having several hundred Army officers around: the site is definitely secure!