The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) will no longer continue in its current form as the government moves to introduce a new legal framework for the elite force, which may include a change of name, the Prime Minister’s Information Adviser Zahed Ur Rahman announced on Tuesday.
Speaking at a weekly press conference marking the government’s three-month tenure, Zahed Ur Rahman addressed questions regarding previous demands for the force’s dissolution.
He noted that the home minister had announced the drafting of a new law during a visit to RAB’s anniversary programme the previous day.
“RAB is not staying the way it was before,” the adviser stated. “I am saying ‘not as before’ because the honourable home minister announced yesterday that there will be a new law for RAB”.
Currently, the elite force operates under a provision of the Armed Police Battalion. The adviser explained that the government is now working on a full-fledged law intended to make the force’s operations and mandate much more “well-defined”.
Zahed Ur Rahman further indicated that a change in the organisation’s name is also probable. “In a sense, RAB will not remain in that (previous) way, and the name is also likely to change,” he said, adding that the home minister is “actively working” on the legislation.
The adviser observed that these structural changes address, “in a sense,” the demands for the abolition of the force previously made by the BNP.
However, he cautioned the media not to misquote him, clarifying that the force is being legally redefined rather than simply abolished.
