| Country: | Bangladesh |
| 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. |
| 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). |
| Purpose: | The JCD’s main purpose is to protect the government’s position by fighting opposition students and activists on university campuses. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| Size: | -- |
| Reason for Membership: | -- |
| Treatment of Civilians: | The JCD attacked opposition student organizations and journalists (Wikipedia). A news source specified that journalists were beaten. |
| Other Information: | The PGM is also known as Bangladesh Jatiotabadi Chatra Dal (Wikipedia). |
| References: |
Human Rights Watch. 2006. “Judge, Jury, and Executioner. Torture and Extrajudicial Killings by Bangladesh’s Elite Security Force.” Volume 18 No. 16 (c) Wikipedia. “Bangladesh Jatiotabadi Chatra Dal”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh_Jatiotabadi_Chatra_Dal |