More than 50 decomposing bodies of murdered officers of the Bangladesh Rifles [who were sent on deputation by the Bangladesh Army] has so far been recovered from a number of mass-graves inside the Bangladesh Rifles Head Quarters at Pilkhana in Dhaka. Some were recovered too from the sewage line flowing from the BDR Headquarters to the Buriganga River.
Meanwhile, according to the latest information, most of the killings and rapes took place after the Prime Minister announced General Amnesty to the mutineer BD troops on Wednesday afternoon. It is further now known that the delegation of mutineers on their return from the Prime Minister’s residence, told their fellow rebel comrades to ‘clear-up’ the remaining number of detained officers as well as to give a ‘good lesson’ to the female officer members. The mutineers were also burying the dead bodies of the army officers during the more than 30-hours they had in the name of negotiations with the government.
Experts feel that, if the government would have allowed the Bangladesh Army to crash in to the BDR headquarters during the hours of the mutiny, a large number of officers would have been saved and many females would have been saved from rape.
Meanwhile,
Weekly Blitz had the scoop of the entire conspiracy of the killing the 146 officers of the Bangladesh Army. I have been repeatedly saying that, this was not any mere revolt by the troops of BDR. I also raised question as to why Awami League-led government decided to send a person like Jahangir Kabir Nanak, who has a questionable background. Now, we have a documented confession from none but Nanak himself.
State Minister for LGRD and Cooperatives Jahangir Kabir Nanak on Friday said the killing of army officers during the BDR mutiny was an act of sabotage. He was speaking to reporters at BDR headquarters.
"It did not happen out of blue. It was a conspiracy. They were killed in a well-planned way."
The state minister said a vested group had long been working on the conspiracy and it distributed millions of taka among the BDR soldiers.
He also vowed that the conspirators must face exemplary punishment.
Parliament whip Mirza Azam [the brother in law of Islamist millitancy group JMB kingpin Shaikh Abdur Rahman] accompanied Nanak.
Let me put here two straightforward questions: How is it that Mr. Nanak is now sure of the conspiracy and how did he know about the funding issue? Does he know this because, he should definitely have known this for obvious reasons? Or was there an intelligence report already in the government's hands?
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina told reporters on Friday that, “The government will find those out who were behind the BDR mutiny."
She said, "Nobody could have staged the rebellion alone. A certain quarter must be involved behind the incident. Everyone was not involved, but a group was."
Excellent commitment from the Prime Minister! But, what about if it will be proved that her own partymen were behind this extreme notoriety?
In the meantime, some of the officials of a particular para-millitary intelligence agency in Bangladesh is continuing to say that, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party [BNP] had a hand in the entire mutiny. They are saying, at the suggestion of some of the senior leaders of the party, leader of the opposition and former Prime Minister, Khaleda Zia did not stay at her residence inside the Dhaka Cantonment on Wednesday night. They [the intelligence officers] want to justify that, Khaleda Zia refrained from staying at home, because, she had a hand in this tragic event.
Whoever the conspirator may be, proper investigation will surely make the entire matter clear.
Eve now, relatives, of the still missing officers are living their pain and horror right in front of the BDR headquarters gate in the hope of either receiving their loved ones alive, or at least their dead bodies. The heartbroken, elderly mother of director general of Bangladesh Riffles, Major General Shakil Ahmed Chowdhury, who had been killed during the mutiny was tearfully asking everyone, what was the ‘crime’ of her son and daughter-in-law, as both of them had been killed by the killers mutineer troops.
Wives, daughters, sons, brothers, sisters of relatives of the missing officers do not know yet, if their loved ones are alive or killed. They even do not know, when they may at least see the bodies of the dead. They have lost their loved ones. Now, they have no other way of expressing their shocks, except leaving tears of anger.
Thousand of officers and soldiers in Bangladesh Army are deeply shocked at the loss of so many lives of their loving colleague brothers and officers. These officers and soldiers risk their lives for the independence and sovereignty of Bangladesh. Now, they are witnessing the worst humiliation, the shock and the pain.
Who was that notorious mind that master minded this entire episode of terror? What revenge did they hold in their hearts against the armed forces in Bangladesh? Why were the renegade BDR troops pointing to the past two years as the period of ‘repression or deprivation’? Is it not true that they were echoing the notion of some others, who were caught during this period for corruption and other charges?
No one knows better the shock of losing near and dear ones than Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina herself. She lost her parents and family members in a bloody coup in 1975. She has been demanding the trial of the killers. This is very natural. A daughter can certainly demand that. It is natural and human. And, the PM should also try to realize and feel the pain and shock of the near and dear ones of the murdered army officers. There should not no sympathy shown to the perpetrators of this hienous crime. The government cannot afford to show minimum ignorance in the degree of importance of the entire episode. The rare mutiny posed a critical test of Sheikh Hasina’s authority, particularly in the face of such stark criticism of the country’s army.
Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury is the editor & publisher of The Weekly Blitz. He is a journalist, columnist, author and Peace activist. He is the recipient of PEN USA Freedom to Write Award 2005, Recipient of American Jewish Committee Moral Courage Award 2006.
Salah can be reached at: salahuddinshoaibchoudhury@yahoo.com
