Right after the mutiny by Bangladesh Rifles [BDR] troops, which is partially resolved by now only at its Dhaka headquarters, some vested interest groups are becoming increasingly active in giving a bad name to the Bangladesh Army by claiming, “They are corrupt violators of rules and abusers of human rights”. Such a campaign is aimed at stopping the participation of the Bangladesh Army in the United Nations Peace Keeping Force.
Some so-called intellectuals in Bangladesh are also adding their voices against the Army and are trying to justify the heinous crime committed by the mutineer BDR troops.
Bangladeshi Economist Anu Muhammad saw the rebellion of BDR soldiers as a “class revolt, though the cruelty in it was extreme”.
“Discrimination was going on in the regimented forces for so long and people had accepted it for sometime. But the situation began altering with the changes in society, as the soldiers in the forces were part of the society’s subaltern section,” he said.
Playwright and cultural activist, Mamunur Rashid said “It was the most shocking event for the nation. What the Bangladesh Rifles members have done is not right, although it was clear that the repression by officers reached an intolerable level. But I think the government has to go deep into the matter that led the soldiers commit such cruelty.”
My personal analysis is the statement by both Anu Mahmud and Mamunur Rashid are designed in indirectly justifying the criminal actions by the mutineer BDR troops.
On a television talk show, former military officer turned political leader General [Retired] C. R. Dutta said, “The BDR revolt is the outburst of their decade old accumulated anger.”
Here again, General Dutta tried to defend the notoriety of BDR troops.
Meanwhile, public sentiment is growing increasingly against the killing and atrocity by the mutineer BDR troops. No grievances can justify a mutiny and killings by a disciplined force anywhere in the world and those who murdered officers at the BDR headquarters should be tried under the laws of the country.
The general sentiment of the people and defence personnel on Thursday turned strongly against the BDR mutineers as news and pictures of the brutal killings of army officers started to emerge in newspapers and on television channels. The bodies recovered from the sewage system bore marks of utter brutality. The bodies were mutilated by gunshots and bayonet charges and were ruthlessly dumped in the sewage system.
Commenting on the Prime Minister’s general amnesty to the mutineer troops, defense experts said, “It’s globally common ethics not to support any mutiny or terrorist acts.”
“If there are grievances, there are many other civilised ways to express that. If mutiny is justified, it would then simply welcome terrorism. While amnesty may be acceptable for the general mutineers considering that there could be more bloodshed otherwise, those who committed the murders should be tried under the laws of the land. They cannot be pardoned.”
Commenting on the mutinee, some said, the way the killings took place surely indicates that there was a hardcore element, which wanted to give the mutiny a face of almost unprecedented brutality. The group, their relationship and linkage should be brought into cleansing daylight through proper and professional non-partisan investigations. The government should look into the facts in a most serious fashion.
The rebellion by a section of soldiers against the officers at the Pilkhana headquarters of the Bangladesh Rifles in the capital of Dhaka, which started Wednesday morning and continued late into Thursday afternoon, has put the country in a grave crisis. The members of the paramilitary BDR constantly guard our national borders in difficult situations, while the members of the armed forces have been raised to defend our national territory if and when attacked; our nation-state badly needs these two forces to maintain healthy relations. After the revolt in BDR, entire bordering areas of Bangladesh are in extreme security situations, and there are reports of strengthening of security measures by our neighboring nations as well as deploying special commandos for unknown but presumable reasons.
Now, let me humbly point to a number of extremely important but very crucial issues, which the government needs to address forthwith:
When the notoriety inside BDR headquarters was continuing, although all the private television channels were covering the incident, state-owned Bangladesh Television was busy broadcasting an entertainment program, as if nothing happened in the country. Such senseless behavior of Bangladesh Television is not only a serious offense by its staff, but to the information ministry itself. It may be mentioned here that the information secretary was just removed from his job only a week ago for writing a notoriously abusive poem on Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and members of his family. Bangladesh Television [BTV] is under the information ministry. Many believe that, BTV’s roles might have been intentional to put the government into questioned position.
After dead bodies of army officers came out through the sewerage line at Kamrangirchar in Dhaka, their bodies were laid out on ground and members of law enforcing agencies called local people to load the bodies into trucks in a very dishonorable manner.. The law enforcing agencies should have used stretchers to honorably shift the bodies to the trucks. Secondly, none of the representatives of the government visited that spot right after recovery of the bodies. Bangladesh Television was again continuing its entertainment and fun programs, thus not even showing a special scroll of condolence on its screen for the loved ones of the dead.
The BDR mutiny was not a mere random incident. No way! It was a very well planned and well organized undertaking, with many key organizers involved from behind the scenea. It was also reported that on the previous night of the mutiny, leaflets were distributed amongst the troops of BDR. They even collected the red and yellow color mask and bandana much ahead of it. So, they were absolutely prepared for the revolt and murder of 146 army officers, in a planned way to create a vacuum right within our armed forces. Moreover, some of the mutineer soldiers were referring to the Prime Minister as “Amader Netri” [Our leader]. To a soldier, how does a PM turn into a leader? Moreover, most of the mutineer troops were appearing before the mass media without any mask, as they knew that their faces would be seen by the television viewers. Were they already sure of plans for a general amnesty, even before any government delegation met them?
And, most interestingly, why did the government decide to send Jahangir Kabir Nanak, MP and Mirza Azam, MP to Bangladesh Riffles headquarters as their first representative for negotiations? Why not any senior leader like Tofael Ahmed or Suranjit Sen Gupta? Or a senior minister like Motia Chowdhury? Any special reason? Did these two leaders have some contact points already inside BDR?
The Bangladesh government must make necessary arrangements for the decent burial of the killed officers with all due respect and honor. They should be accorded the honor of national heroes. Moreover, the government definitely should identify the entire conspiracy behind such brutality. There should also be proper investigation on the cases of rapes inside the BDR headquarters during the 30-hour mutiny. And finally, the government should do everything possible to stop dangerous anti-army propaganda inside and outside Bangladesh by various elements.
Armed forces are the guards of our sovereignty. They have been sacrificing lives since the independence of this country. Many officers sacrificed their lives during the war of independence. Dignity and prestige of this institution should be upheld under any and all circumstance. There should never be any compromise in this regard!
Bangladesh: Tears of anger
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.
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