Pro-Government Militias
Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) (Bangladesh)
Basic Group Information
| Name assigned by coder: | no |
| PGM ID Number: | 177 |
| Country: | Bangladesh |
| Date formed: | Jan. 1, 1979 |
| Accuracy of date formed: | day |
| Details of Formation: | The Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) was founded on January 1, 1979 by the president and founder of the BNP Ziaur Rahman who thought it was necessary to form a student organization. BNP stayed in power until March 24, 1982 when its president Abdus Sattar was overthrown by a bloodless coup. BNP came back to power from March 20, 1991 – March 30, 1996. Later BNP came to power again on October 10, 2001, after winning the election. |
| Date dissolved: | Oct. 29, 2006 |
| Accuracy of date dissolved: | day |
| Details of Termination: | The PGM was interrupted between 25 March 1982 and 19 March 1991 and between 31 March 1996 and 9 October 2001 because the BNP was not part of the government. At the end of October 2006 a caretaker government took over. After 2006 the JCD remained active and attacked police (Wikipedia). |
| Termination Type(s): | change in government |
Former and Successor Group Information
| Predecessor group(s): | none |
| Successor group(s): | none |
| Private Military Company? | no |
| Former Group? | no |
| Former Armed Group? | no information |
| Former Rebel Group? | no |
| Former Rebel Group UCDP ID: | none |
| PGM Becomes Rebel Group? | no |
| Successor Rebel Group UCDP ID: | none |
Government Relation, Support, and Training
| Government Relation: | informal (type 1) |
| Created by the Government?: | yes | Main Creating Government Institution: | person/minister |
| Government Link(s): | political party |
| If link to party, name of party: | Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) |
| Training and Equipment: | yes |
| Shared Information and Joint Operations: | no information |
| Shared Personnel: | no |
| Type(s) of Material Support: | no information |
| State Sponsor(s): | none |
| Other Connection(s): |
Group Characteristics
| Membership: | party activists; students |
| Primary Membership: | political |
| Alternative Primary Membership: | no information |
| Location: | Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi campus |
| Force Strength: | [unknown, unknown] |
| Target(s): | unarmed political opposition, government critics; rebels, insurgents, or other armed group; journalists; students |
| Purpose(s): | protect state, national or religious leader(s) |
Ethnic Characteristics
| Ethnic Target(s): | none |
| Quality of Information for Ethnic Targeting: | not applicable |
| Ethnic Membership: | none |
| Quality of Information for Ethnic Membership: | not applicable |
| Ethnic Purpose: | none |
| Quality of Information for Ethnic Purpose: | not applicable |
Other Information
| Other Information: | The PGM is also known as Bangladesh Jatiotabadi Chatra Dal (Wikipedia). |
New Variables from Meta-Analysis
Purpose
| Purpose: | The JCD’s main purpose is to protect the government’s position by fighting opposition students and activists on university campuses. |
| Relative Benefit(s) of PGM Use | unknown |
Treatment of Civilians
| Treatment of Civilians: | The JCD attacked opposition student organizations and journalists (Wikipedia). A news source specified that journalists were beaten. |
| Type(s) of Violence against Civilians: | beating |
Reasons for Membership
| PGM Members Coerced? | no information |
| PGM Members Paid? | no information |
| Reasons for Membership: | |
| PGM Members Killed? | rarely |
PGM Size
| Size: |
Weapons and Training
| Weapons and Training: | News sources report that the group had guns, bombs, rifles, revolvers, light machine-guns and grenades. They were allegedly provided weapons by government agencies. |
Organisation
| Organisation: | The JCD is the student wing of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). Many BNP leaders were former JCD activists (Wikipedia). The JCD’s activities could be suspended via a directive by the Prime Minister of the BNP. |
Reference(s) for Meta-Analysis
Evidence
- Examine the evidence for this coding.