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At a glance

The word Ansar is Arabic, whose Bengali auxiliary. From the religious point of view of Islam, Ansar is identified as the helper of Islam. That is, Ansar means a person who helps Islam and Ansar Bahini means a force that helps Islam. However, in the context of Bangladesh, Ansar Bahini means a volunteer force dedicated to maintaining law and order and socio-economic development.

 

The Ansar Bahini was established on 12 February 1948 and came into force on 18 June 1948 when the Ansar Act was approved by the then East Bengal Legislative Assembly. From then on, the training activities of this force were temporarily held at Shahbagh in Dhaka. During the Pak-India war in 1965, the Ansars were deployed in the border outposts of the country. After the swearing in of the first Provisional Government of Bangladesh (Mujibnagar) in the War of Independence, the caretaker President was given a Guard of Honor by 12 members of the Ansar Force led by Ansar Platoon Commander Iyad Ali. During the war of independence, the Ansar forces were declared rebels and abolished. Ansar members took part in the war of independence with about 40,000 rifles. A total of 70 people including 9 officers, 4 employees and 656 Ansars were martyred in the battle. 1 Bir Bikram and 2 Bir Pratik of the force were awarded the title. In the post-independence period, training activities of Ansar Bahini were conducted from 1973 to 1975 at Savar near Dhaka. The Village Defense Force (VDP) was formed in 1986 and the City Defense Force (TDP) in 1980. Later these two forces merged with the Ansar forces. The National Ansar Training Center (NATC) was established in 1986 at Safipur in Kaliakair upazila of Gazipur district. In 1983, it was renamed Ansar Training School. In 1986, the Ansar Training School was upgraded to the Ansar Academy. In 1995, it was renamed Ansar-VDP Academy. The force is currently governed by the Ansar Bahini Act, 1995 and the Battalion Ansar Act, 1995, which, when passed by Parliament, received the approval of His Excellency the President on 15 February 1995 and came into force on 16 February 1995. According to the provisions of Article 152 of the Constitution, the Ansar Bahini is an orderly force.