The most infamous mutiny of recent times was the 1857 Rebellion of Indian sepoys against East India Company rule. It took the British almost two years to put down the rebellion, and resulted in the dissolution of the Company's administration of India and the imposition of the Raj (direct British rule).
Last week's mutiny of the Bangladesh Rifles, a paramilitary force formed by the British in the late 18th century, seemed like a faint echo of that bloody and defining conflict. The death toll so far is 76, with the mutineers murdering senior officers and their wives, including the Rifles' commanding officer, Major General Shakil Ahmed.
Paramilitary forces are common in South Asia, a legacy of the Raj when the British used such units to control restive populations and patrol dangerous frontiers. India, Pakistan and Bangladesh maintain large paramilitary forces, like Pakistan's Frontier Corps (80,000 strong), India's Border Security Force (220,000), and the Bangladesh Rifles (67,000).
Well-trained and disciplined paramilitary units have their uses. But overall the model seems like a powder key waiting to blow - large numbers of heavily-armed men, concentrated in cantonments, often poorly paid, badly equipped and ill-disciplined. Mutiny is one concern; also worrying is the potential for paramilitaries to ally with organized crime, as seems to be happening in Mexico.
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