Dhaka: The Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) will celebrate its seventh founding anniversary on Wednesday amid different programmes at Pilkhana headquarters as well as its all battalions across the country.

The programmes include hoisting of BGB’s regimental flags at 8:00am atop BGB headquarters and battalions, parade at the Pilkhana headquarters.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to take salute at 10:00am on Wednesday as the chief guest, according to an official release in Dhaka.

BGB Director General Major General Abul Hossain will place floral wreaths at ‘Simanto Gourav’ showing respect to the martyrs of freedom fighters at around 8:15am. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will distribute medal among the BGB officials and members acknowledging their contribution in the services.

Ministers, Advisors, senior military and civil officials and members of the diplomatic corps will attend the parade.

A 15-member representative led by Indian Border Security Force (BSF) Director General Krishan Kumar Sharma and a six-member representative led by Police Commander of Myanmar’s Border Guard Police Brigadier General Myint Toe will attend the parade.

President Md Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today issued separate statement on the occasion greeting the BGB members. They hope that the BGB would discharge their duties with honesty and sincerity to keep the border areas safe and uphold the country‘s image.

In his message, President Abdul Hamid urged the BGB members to discharge their duties with utmost sincerity for protecting the country‘s bordering areas by preventing smuggling, woman and child trafficking, combating terrorism, maintaining discipline and contributing to rescue operation during natural calamities. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in her message, said that her government has taken all necessary measures to make the BGB a modern force. She said the present government has enacted the Border Guard Bangladesh Act-2010 and approved new organizational framework and manpower for making it an efficient force. About the mutiny that took place at Pilkhana on February 25-26 in 2009, the Prime Minister said it was a black chapter in the 220 years’ history of the force and all the convicted were brought under book.

Recently, the High Court has awarded death sentence to 139, life imprisonment to some 185 and 196 were given jail in different terms, the release added.

‘We already have started to reform the force as a time be-fitting border guard force through passing the ‘Border Guard Bangladesh Act-2010’, the Prime Minister stated in her message, adding that BGB is working under its four regions, four sectors and 15 battalions with about 22 thousand members countrywide.’

The PM said, ‘Vision-2041’ has been formulated to make the BGB as the three-dimensional modern force in future and decision to raise its workforce by more 15,000 has already been approved.

She recalled the contribution of this force saying the border forces fought for the country responding to the call of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1971 and some 817 members of the border guards made their supreme sacrifices in the War of Liberation.

The force, she said, is playing a better role than in the past in any emergency period and natural disaster and nation building activities and in aid of civil administration.