In the aftermath of last Wednesday’s shocking Border Patrol (BDR) mutiny, Bangladeshi police, rescue teams and firefighters are faced with the grisly task of uncovering and burying the dead. Numbering around 70,000, the BDR’s main role is to secure Bangladesh’s long, porous borders with India and Myanmar.
The truth of the situation still remains unclear, but so far, this is what we know:
- The 33-hour standoff ended Thursday night
- 72 officers are missing (link)
- A total of 76 bodies have been found
- 48 bodies were discovered buried in two graves that each measured about 20 feet by 10
- Bodies being unearthed in manholes, sewers and shallow mass graves show signs of being shot and badly mutilated with bayonets
- PM Hasina promised amnesty on Thursday, but on Friday rescinded amnesty for killers. 200 BDR members have been arrested (link)
- Maj. Gen. Shakil Ahmed, commander of the Bangladesh Rifles border force, and a woman that authorities believed was his wife are among the dead (link)
- The government has ordered a 10-member committee to investigate the mutiny link
The weather, hovering around 30 degrees celsius, is not helping matters:
Bangladesh firefighter Arif Ullah reaches for a handkerchief and retches, overcome by a thick stench of bodies, as he combs a sprawling military compound for victims of a deadly mutiny by border guards…
“It’s hot and it stinks,” Ullah said, as flies buzzed around the flaps of green khaki tents erected over two mass graves into which many bodies had been hurled by the mutineers.
“But we’ve got to keep going. It’s been three days since these guys were buried. They’re badly decomposed.”
Sheikh Mohammad Shahjalal, a hardened veteran of rescue operations…says he is at a loss to explain the savagery of the killings. “It’s beyond comprehension how one human being could have done this to another. They not only shot them dead but some of the bodies were badly mutilated with bayonets.” link
Commenter dudeDAC lives in Dhaka and has been updating us on the situation in the previous post. He also took a series of stunning pics of tanks rolling through a busy downtown intersection.
February 25-26: we were discussing the security threat and the situation when the intersection went into turmoil, people running and simply standing gawking….We heard a rumble, growing, shaking the ground, and when the first tank (one of 10-12) rolled past, we knew the jig was up, it would either end in massive casualties, or quick diffusion.
Have you seen a tank up close? No matter how old or run by whom, it is a frightening sight. Only the naive and stupid think it is fun, or something to laugh about. The tanks can cause severe damage without ever shooting a round. Army is/should be the last resort, and heavy artillery the end of even that option.
More photos, with dudeDAC’s captions and on-the-ground sense of the situation, are below.
The general consensus in the press is that the uprising was the result of long-simmering discontent over wages, working conditions, cushy UN patrol spots and other perks.
dudeDAC disagrees:
This was not, NOT, about pay and amenities as was initially thought, ergo the general amnesty the first day, nor about army being in control of top brass. Also widely believed that these tensions are as old as the BDR have been in existence. This was also NOT about the pieces of the pie of the dhal-bhat program (program where the BDR sold basic staples, i.e. rice, flour, oil, potatoes/onions etc. at less than market prices to the poor) which the army officers failed to share with the jawans for the last 2 years…or whether they were thought of as less than the reg. army, or why they were not able to enjoy the perks of the U.N. missions abroad as the army as well as the police are able to do.
15,000+ regulars do not ALL get pissed off at once!!! There were 60,000 more around the country, they did not kill their officers.
There were several factions, no clear leadership, or purpose, or goal. Survivor testimony of how one group shot at them, while another rescued and hid them, and a third tried to kill them afterwards backs up the lack of coherency in the BDR HQ. There seems to be no purpose or goal other than to cause chaos…to terrorize or undermine the civil society we in Dhaka have managed to enjoy since the elections 2 months ago, after over 2 yrs of pseudo army rule. It is widely believed that these actions speak of an influence intending to cause destabilization in the army, government, and society at large. Who? we shall have to wait and see. An odd truth: we in Dhaka have been safer than Indians in Bombay, given the train bombings and hotel massacre.
[dudeDAC’s captions and commentary lightly edited for clarity. His photos can also be found here, under the moniker stoneßµ∂∂hÃ¥.]
Global Voices Online has a great roundup here of twitter messages, Facebook status updates, Flickr streams, videos, and blogs that live-blogged the events of the past few days as they unfolded.
I couldn’t disagree more about the tanks. They weren’t being deployed against or meant to intimidate civilians. The only thing scary about them is they underline the seriousness of the situation.
um, wow, didn’t think it would all end up here!!! but i am happy to share. you can contact me if you need to via mail on flickr.
btw, i am sure people are reading and seeing things for themselves via the internet and MSM, but some of the things i am sharing are based on my understanding of what’s going on, which may or may not be accurate. there is a lot of speculation, and everyone i have talked with acts, ofcourse, like an expert on the matter. this sort of idle analysis is not helping the overall mood of the city. they show the summary of the days news on each local channel, and i am still stunned and horrified at what they uncover.
i did want to add something else. the coverage of the situation and the role of the local print and visual media is dumbfounding. last night one channel walked through the BDR Head’s house, room by room, showing everything, family photos, disarray, bloodstains… it took me sometime to digest why they would EVER show that on tv!!! maybe i am missing censored news afterall. but what i recall from the non-stop mumbai massacre coverage was how close the media as well as general population were even while the situation was unresolved. nothing seem so to happen here without a bunch of journoes and a TON of people hanging about overlooking the fire-brigade and police/RAB doing recovery work. thanks again for the posts! “mr.” dudeDAC
nope, they were deployed against, and meant to intimidate the BDR jawans still holed up against at their HQ. and it worked. hours after the PM’s nationwide address the tanks and APC’s rolled in, and hours after that, the situation was over. i personally found them reassuring, but 12 tanks and APC’s and trucks of army soldiers with anti-aircraft guns were readying to storm the place, by evening of the 26th, so it seemed. this morning in conversation with some folks we were discussing why the population at large is not particularly afriad of the army soldiers, or the heavy armament, which they liked having photos taken with according to what we saw on tv the last few days. i find tanks particularly scary in person because i have seen elsewhere the damage they inflict.
DudeDAC:
I’m confused as to why you see a hand guiding events from outside. Most mutinies over pay unfold like this – there are killings in some areas, but not others, a large number of soldiers rise up, but not everyone.
It’s what the computer people call emergent behavior – a whole bunch of people acting independently can look coherent, we see it with birds flying in formation or ants “working together” or in the market. There are plenty of examples these days erroneously classified as “tipping point” cases (some are, some aren’t).
Do you have other evidence which might point at a large conspiracy in addition to the aggregate behavior you have described?
I watch NTV and other local Bangla news programs online, and at this point, all conclusions are speculative. There is no indication as to why this subset of soldiers mutinied. There seems to have been a lot of personal anger directed at the victims, and the whole deal is surreal. I think the news is doing an effective job of trying to gather information. Also, please make sure to not turn this into a bash session between Awami Leaguers and BNPs; That’s the last thing we need right now.
I don’t see how this is an act to destabilize the country. It appears to be more a personal tragedy for the country, for the soldiers, for the officers, and for all. And the argument about pay inequities is not far fetched–the cost of food is incredibly high, with cost of rice triple that of just a year ago. The whole situation is heartbreaking.
DudeDAC: I am confused. What influence are you (or others) alluding to that is causing this destabilization ?
2 · dudeDAC said
Thanks for saying this, dudeDAC – I really appreciate it, as I do the photos. You might be interested in this Indian Express article, which alleges a BNP party member under investigation for graft (which makes him basically…a Bangladeshi politician) having a role in instigating this. However, I would be nervous about these theories because the Awami league, government, and army are in a position to want to expand and consolidate their power and justify whatever steps they will take. Being far away and knowing how politicised even the basic narrative gets so quickly in these types of things, I reserve judgement on what actually happenened until I find out more.
One thing though – from afar, it doesn’t seem like an incident of the magnitude that has been generated in the press on the Internet – what is it that is making this a story with legs? Do you have a sense? Or you cicatrix?
The first signs of a Pakistani footprint is showing up in the bloody mutiny that shook Bangladesh this week. As mass graves continue to spew forth more bloody tales – 10 more bodies have been recovered, bringing the toll to 76 – what is emerging slowly is a larger design behind the apparently senseless killing over the past couple of days.
BDR did the same thing to some Indian soldiers back in 2001.
Bangladesh returns mutilated bodies
Its a shame… its a shame. Its obvious that the BDR atrocity was not merely over their demand for better pay or ration but something that is not yet obvious.
I condemn the fierce killings of member of arm forces and their family that took place that day. Such brutal act cannot go unpunished.
The army has shown great patience and maturity in holding back their emotions and the way they dealt the situation.
Its undoubtedly remarkable the way the honorable PM Shekh Hasina handled the situation.
The country and all the political parties should now work together to identify the culprits and bring them to justice.
My heart goes out to all the souls that were lost and the family of the effected who have a difficult time ahead of them.
Do you have other evidence which might point at a large conspiracy in addition to the aggregate behavior you have described?
I did say other than the facts, i.e. confirmed dead, timing of when the army showed up, how many tanks etc, everything else was based on my gleaning off of media reports and what people are saying. Now some people really do have insides in the army, so they hear what most of us general population do not. Some people, as I also said, are basically idly speculating. On the 26th, once armed police went inside the BDR compound after the jawans surrendered in the evening, and the scale of the situation was brought to light, it â€seemed†to many that this was more than just pay dispute and anger towards army officers.
Now you are welcome to “speculate†whatever you want as well as anyone else. But the fact remains that on the 27th it was widely panned the Gov. played this well, and by 28th morning I heard internally army personnel were angry. This was further confirmed throughout the day when army chief as well as other high ranking officers specifically came out to dispel any rumours and affirm the army was solidly behind the government and though there was great anger, that they were “a trained profession force, and they knew how to control and manage their emotionsâ€.
And don’t be ridiculous, if I ad hard evidence I would not be on the internet posting comments on a blog about it, I’d be out sharing it with the expanded parliamentary committee that has been set up to investigate the matter! The end of day yesterday various cabinet ministers had alluded to evidence the “government†had that outside forces had a hand in the situation and that it had been ongoing for some years, money having been spread to 20-25 jawans who did not care or their careers or the BDR or army. I have heard one specific group, but I won’t speculate as there did not seem to be any evidence of it thus far.
As for de-stabalising the government and society at large, the army’s 2 year stint had led to a level of security and safety, some people feel that is not as apparent the last 50+ days, and we have seen two gruesome unrelated sets of murders the last 2 days. People “feel†scared, and it is a bigger magnitude than I think it is being shown on the local media. Don’t be cavalier about it, you have to see one body being taken out of a grave, not read about it, but see it either live or via uncensored local media, to have your mind changed. They have been showing bodies being pulled up from sewers, drains, and from graves, dotted over lawns, hidden under leaf and dirt. I heard several people either knowingly share or share what they heard that army officers wives were separated from their families (children being left in their homes with ayas). I need not connect the dots for you as to why the wives would be taken aside away from their children and household staff, but not killed.
If you are interested, Daily Star after 12:30am local time has the articles for the next day online, and usually a good summary of days events and happenings on the matter. If you have friends living here or traveling here, please ask them what their thoughts feelings on the matter are. If you are familiar with dhaka’s layout, then you know being in dhanmodi from rd#2 (where BDR HQ is) to rd#27 is very different than being in/around gulshan #1 or banani or baridhara. People at different locales are going to feel this in different ways depending on how close they are to the situation. We heard zanajas all of Friday and Saturday throughout the day, probably because some of the army people lived in this area too.
Apart from the known facts, all of this is just my thoughts based on what I have read (which you all can too) and see on local and int’l media. Other things I may know or hear I would not speculate on a blog forum.
Please do not speculate on partisan politics regarding this matter, I have not heard one single thing on that from anyone, this is not the time for it. Mrs. Zia was out and about yesterday, and from what I saw, having lost a spouse gruesomely herself, is someone who is in a position to share the tears she did with wives and children as she had. she looked sincerely pained and grieved. The PM as she stated in her address is one who knows the tragedy of murdered family also. Ershad was on site as his nephew was in the compound, I’ve not heard if he was found or not. Many middle-class families have someone or another in the army, and given army officers have to rotate through deputations in the BDR, we know for a fact 160 families are going to be affected one way or another.
@ #7 – Dr Amonymous
The Indian media would do very well to keep their opinions to themselves, as they are not wanted by anyone. And as for the magnitude of the incident.. umm I don’t know about where you’re from, but in Bangladesh, paramilitary troops don’t open fire on their senior commanders all too often. Do you realise that over 100 people have probably died, many of them being among the top army men in the country? Colonols, Lietenant colonels, majors.. even the Director General of the BDR. Now, some of them were extremely corrupt, but again, many of them weren’t. Even so, it’s a big blow to the army, and the country in general. It’s very difficult to see men who are supposed to be protecting you turn on their seniors in such a brutal and remorseless way, smack bang in the middle of the capital city. And the government just had to sit and wait, while this went on, because of the fear of making things worse.
One more thing, this whole thing is a complete surprise to everyone. There were no indications or lead up whatsoever to the incident, although the poor conditions of the BDR have always been known. I mention this because in the foreign media at the moment, by way of introducing Bangladesh to the common reader they have something like ‘Bangladesh is an impoverished country blah blah.. recent political turmoil blah’ – which is all well and true, but it makes it seem like there is always some sort of strife or tension in the country, which really there isn’t. We’ve just had a quite fair, peaceful election and the government’s been in for a couple of months. No major issues until now. As I said, no one saw this coming – not even the intelligence agency it seems. So yeah the conspiracy theories come out at this point, but I mention it because it adds to the ‘magnitude of the incident’, which I feel silly enough trying to justify.
Blood begets blood.
I am not Bangladeshi, but I have lived many years in a developing country under a military regime, and personally mixed with their army officers, and so I have a general good idea of how such army officers behave. Particularly those that have held and tasted political power.
Whilst there will undoubtedly be many contributory causes to this appalling murderous mutiny by the BDR, one factor that I suspect would have played a major role is the Army’s general arrogance to non army cadres and civilians. Army officers generally cannot listen, take advice or criticism, or yield even minimally to people they conciously and subconciously perceive to be beneath them. This means that grievances that could have been solved by dialogue and compromise fester till they blow up. The problem for the Bangladeshi Army Officers is that in this case the aggrieved party had guns too.
The army in Bangladesh is now calling for justice, which from my distant view point is rather amusing, as they have shed so much blood themselves, often on civilians, and yet in most cases if my reading of Bangladeshi history is right have never been served the justice they very richly deserve, and now cry out for.
Obviously the perpetrators of this recent atrocity will have to be punished both for the sake of justice, and to assuage military anger, but the Bangladesh government needs to also seriously address the underlying grievances, and rein in the military from outright revenge on the BDR. And work hard towards equal justice for all in Bangladesh, not just the powerful Army which has often acted itself with total disrespect for the law, and with utter impunity.
As they say, Blood begets Blood.
@ 12 · Anom on March 1, 2009 05:03 AM · Direct link ·
thank you. i was a bit appalled the article states names and parties, even if true, now is no tthe time to imflame anger and strife, unless that is their point.
@ 13 . TAO on March 1, 2009 05:42 AM
having lived in other countries where the military were in power or power brokers, you are correct, maybe they are like this, maybe they are not. but before saying blood begets blood, come down and and live in this area, maybe firing distance of mortars and canon fire… personally, i would rather blood is not begetted anywhere near me or my family or my community. i am sure your words will bring cold comfort to wives and mothers trying to identify decomposing naked bodies through birthmarks, or waiting DNA testing results.
i am a little shocked at some of these responses i have been reading over various blog forums. have people become so callous and cavalier? it’s not just a news piece like many others!!! this many officers unlikely were killed during bangladesh’s war of liberation! whether you agree or like an army or not, it takes decades to replace this calibre and senior office cadre.
try not to read inflamatory articles, stick to news. right now we don’t need partisanship and infighting.
in case this was missed by, you know, those people who don’t read a lot, the PM was at the BDR HQ for BDR Week on the 24th as part of it’s celebrations. either this thing was a huge intelligence failure, pre-planned conspiracy, or a HUGE death-wish on her part. heck, i probably would have gone past the front gate on the way to New Market the next day myself.
having lived in other countries where the military were in power or power brokers, you are correct, maybe they are like this, maybe they are not. but before saying blood begets blood, come down and and live in this area, maybe firing distance of mortars and canon fire… personally, i would rather blood is not begetted anywhere near me or my family or my community. i am sure your words will bring cold comfort to wives and mothers trying to identify decomposing naked bodies through birthmarks, or waiting DNA testing results.
I apologise that my previous comment was rather callous and cold hearted.
I have lived in firing distance of cannon and mortar, and military coups, and like you I would rather that blood is not begat anywhere near me or my family or community.
I am also really sorry for the army officers, and people who were brutally murdered. And for their bereaved families and their pain.
I hope that Bangladesh can work its way through this peacefully.
The Indian media covers angles that concern India .. is there Pak invovement? What is the history of the likely participants? What happens to the ongoing border related talks (which were being held with the BDR) Is Bangladesh on its way to becoming yet another tin-pot country on its border? What are India’s options? At the end of the day, is the end result going to be favorable or unfavorable to India?
It would be unthinkable for the Indian media to be silent. India is hardly an uninterested party here. Personally, I think that there has been too little Indian media coverage (I do not know of the extent of the TV coverage, so I may be wrong)
17 · DizzyDesi said
That reaction is par for the course for very small but vocal minority of Bangladeshi’s. They bristle at anything to do with India down to whitewashing the Liberation war.
Now as far ToI is concerned, we’ve all come to appreciate that they tend to be tabloid’ish. The name they bear does a disservice to the nation.
12 · Anom said
Maybe you should read this article from 2001 before expressing snappy opinions. The actions of BDR seriously affect Indian people living close to the border with B’desh.
From what I have been reading, this mutiny is a particularly disturbing portent for the near future. The pre-independence organization that evolved into the BDR played an important role in the formation of Bangladesh (according to Mr. B. Raman, the disenchantment among BDR rank and file with their (West) Pakistani officers played a major role in causing defections from their ranks to join the Mukti Bahini). It would be very unfortunate if this is an indicator of things to come.
I think that the Indian media should very much cover this event, especially since a weakening of governance in Bangladesh has a direct and significant effect on India. It is not also unreasonable to speculate about the involvement of different countries/parties-this is what a respectable press in any country does (although I don’t think “respectable” is a very suitable term to describe large portions of the Indian media).
12 · Anom said
Anom, thanks for your response. I appreciate the level of your anger and I agree that the farther the Indian media stays from this the better, though I also believe that it would be virtually impossible given the Indian state’s role as regional power and the role that the Indian media plays in keeping that up. I offered that link solely because there are very few articles that go beyond the food-salary-officers-oppressing-underlings explanation and the greater sense of disturbance that most people have and DudeDAC had expressed a sense (if I read him/her correctly) that there might be some more centralised plannign to this but hadn’t offered what that might be.
I’ve been to Bangladesh once for work on the garment sector in Bangladesh and more generally have worked with a lot of Bangladeshi immigarnts in the US and have studied its politics and economics to an extent at a masters level and generally tend to be interested. What I didn’t understand is why everyone outside Bangladesh started paying attention all of a sudden and was more freaked out than, say, by the annual floods, by the climate change that’s going to drown the country, by the military coup, the widespread arrests, that there’s a rat infestation of Chittagong right now, etc. So really it wasn’t a question about Bangladesh as much as about Internet coverage of Bangladesh. For example, what is happening in Sri Lanka right now is arguably more significant for Sri Lanka than this is for Bangladesh, but it is less covered in the media that I read. Why has this incident suddenly provoked people to send their sympathies to Bangladesh to a greater degree than they had before? Perhaps it is because of a focus on the spectacle and the incident or perhaps it is because the sense of fear and confusion that permeated from inside Bangladesh outside (which would certainly be good news if that had had an effect on the world) or perhaps it is some sort of agenda by someone – by I don’t know what that would be or by whom.
Anyway, I hope that clears up where I’m coming from – again, I didn’t mean to diminish the impact on people INSIDE Bangladesh – this may be one of those cases where for those of us who grew outside, differentiating between the ordinary level of social violence/disturbance in various South Asian places and what will trigger a massive response is difficult.
17 · DizzyDesi said
But why do you have to talk about them here? It distracts from the conversation, which is mainly as sincere and thoughtful as the post thus far in maintaining a focus on trying to find out and discussing what’s actually happening in Bangladesh at a specific time. Surely you wouldn’t have wanted to talk to a bunch of Americans about how the Mumbai bombings affected American security interests while it was still going on, no?
please i’m begging all of you can we just talk about the BDR mutiny as it matters to Bangladesh instead of arguing about whether it matters to India? There aren’t that many spaces to do the former and a lot of us are trying to understand what it’s about and this is a good space for doing it. I’m begging here…
@ 17,18,19
For the record, I said nothing about the extent of the Indian media reporting on what’s happening. I merely meant that that the media should keep their laughable whodunnit theories out of it at this very early stage. But at Dr Amonymous’ kind request, I will say no more. I couldn’t help saying just that little bit though, if you will forgive me!
Dr, I see where you were coming from now when asking about why the sudden interest on the Internet about this issue and Bangladesh. I think it’s a horrible sort of desensitisation to killing and violence that’s made the media, and people who use it, uninterested in things that don’t surprise them. For example, what is happening in Sri Lanka – I vaguely know something new happened recently, but have not bothered to follow it because even in ignorance about the situation, I have a very general idea that the situation is not resolved and therefore expect the LTTE to pull something new, whatever it may be. Also like how road-side bombs in Iraq hardly get reported on anymore because they’ve become so common-place. What happened in Dhaka, however, as I mentioned before, was quite unexpected and therefore perhaps more exciting/newsworthy? It feels so horrible to think of it that way, but the media do love to prey on our strongest emotions.
The one theory that I see on the internet is that the BDR were somehow influenced by hardline Jamaat/Razakaar sympathizers to conduct this assassinations. The army and the new political leadership have shown the inclination to go after those who took part in the ’71 genocide along with the Pakistanis and the Jamaat supporters ranks are made up of many of these people. Taking advantage of a few of the largely underpaid and perhaps mistreated BDR members with the lure of perhaps money or religious ideology to send a message to Hasina and the Bangla army is one of the few things that I see that could lead to something like this. I’ve read numbers stating that perhaps 1/3 of the Bangladeshi officer corps have been killed. This is a very very substantial number considering this was an organization that controlled the country for two years and perhaps could return to power.
The only thing I am objecting to is
2 Differences. 1. Bangladesh shares a border with India and BDR is responsible for patrolling the border. Bangladesh has literally asked India to ignore any shooting that goes on near the border. Bangladesh expects BDR personnel to come to India and has asked India to disarm them and hand them over to India. A more correct American analogy would be if the mexican army mutinied and killed a large number of it’s top brass in mexico city. If history is anything to go by, american interests would not only dominate the airwaves, but CIA agents would be all over mexico city , along with millitary advisors and probably a bunch of marines.
I am not insisting the discussions must only concentrate on India – the only thing I am objecting to is that articles from the Indian media should not be part of this discussion. I found the Indian express link interesting.
As an Indian, I am genuinely curious on that effects this will have on India. My knowledge on the internal politics of Bangladesh is a black hole, and I welcome any information I can get regarding it.
Since the largest number of people who google SM are from India, it is safe to say that this is a legitimate area of discussion. Isn’t the aftermath the time to wonder how this also impacts the sub-continent?
— The above post was by me, I messed up the quote
IAF on stand-by, ready to help Bangladesh
I think both General Ahmed and the Rt. Hon Prime Minister Hasina have the full backing of India in any event. My thoughts are with the B-Deshi people and especially the officer corps. Many brilliant and loyal soldiers responsible for tracking down JMB, Islamists and other Anti-National/Liberation forces perished senselessly.
Taking advantage of a few of the largely underpaid and perhaps mistreated BDR members with the lure of perhaps money or religious ideology to send a message to Hasina and the Bangla army is one of the few things that I see that could lead to something like this.
Lisa11
Drug Intervention West Virginia
So, with the caveat that I’m not terribly knowledgeable on Bangladesh, a bunch of what I’ve been reading on this puts the blame for the massacre on the “Islam-pasand” faction and suggests that the scale and viciousness of the killings belies the simple claim of a pay dispute.
rob, correct, sort of. but then again, they are pretty much blamed for most terror-like attacks pretty much most of the world. so who knows.
planned, i think so. conspiracy, ofcourse, how else did they plant it. they found arms and com. gear that neither BDR nor the army uses. a grey pickup was seen to bring arms/munitions to the darbar hall before the shootings started. the BDR arms stockade is 3-4km away from the darbar hall under lock and key, and munitions are not kept with the guns, being situated at another site 2-3 km away. it wasn’t as if the army brass said rough/harsh things and jawans “then” went and got guns, they had them, and they went about on strategic killing spree. the last few days they have been showing interviews of escaped officers, families, and witness accounts on pretty much all of the tv channels. something probably they should not be allowed to do until full investigations are done.
BUT, the what i assume to be the forensic team is working in closed off areas where for the days prior (after the attack but before they moved in) journalist and all and sundry were walking about. i read one foreign dhaka based photojournalist write how on a press tour of the DG’s house (before forensics seem to have moved in) she saw another local photojournalist rip up a photo of the DG and place it just so to get a good photo, which he then tried to take/steal with him…!!! ??? and not one week has gone by before the two main parties are STUPIDLY blaming eachother over stuff and staging walkouts over slights in the parliament.
to watch mothers and wives and children talk and cry about their husbands fathers brothers is heartbreaking. this is also a month where the country focuses on independence and the movement for nationhood as March 26th is coming up. ironically, BDR HQ, then known as EPR, was also the site of another massacre that started the final chain of events that led to statehood in 1971.
Facts so far:
01) Proof is there that outside entry of vehicles/men (involved in the ‘uprising’) occurred in BDR prior to, and during the mayhem. 02) At least two civilian groups of people marched inside and then came out of the BDR HQ on the 26th between 12 noon and 2 pm. Lot of ‘BDR’ men seen to have escaped out of the HQ in civilian clothes with both these groups of civilians. Mind you, by this time the army was apparently supposed to have surrounded the entire Peelkhana area with tanks, anti-aircraft guns, and what not. How could have any ‘civilian’ groups be allowed to enter the compound in such a scenario? 03) Live footage was shown of men escaping over the walls and some even getting on boats and escaping! Where were the security cordon personnel? Even the media people knew where to place their cameras! What a big surprise. 04) Should’nt it be possible to find out the whereabouts/activities/numbers of people who were recruited into the various government institutions (including the BDR, Army, etc) during the past BNP-Jamaat gov? Enough evidence is there to suggest that hard core followers of the above gov/parties were recruited in BCS, army, bdr, etc. What were their activities upto now? 05) The penetration of the hard-core fundamentalists into the bangladesh body politic is well established. Follow some simple truths:- a) 1972-1975 – Sheikh Mujib in power; b) 1996-2001 – Sheikh Hasina in power; total of 8 years out of the past 37 years!! Who or what type of gov ruled the country the remaining years? Are we day dreaming? b) President Ziaur Rahman rehabilitated Jamaat, abolished laws to try the war criminals, etc. Wiped out possible rivals through wholesale massacre of the forces. c) Entire contingent of repatriated bengali forces were incorporated into the bangladesh army from 1973 onwards — thus outnumbering the freedom fighters. d) Ershad purges the army of the freedom fighter elements via the Ziaur Rahman killing. e) The bangladesh army personnel (mostly) have had a direct ‘colleague’/batchmate relationship with top-echelons of the pakistan army, existing even to this day. This ‘camaradie’ never goes away. The path lies open for ISI (Inter Services Intelligence, of the Pakistan Army) to have heavy influence on our army. We are anti-indian by nature from a long time back anyway. f) All the above gives Jamaat a free hand to establish themselves into the general population to great extent. The misdeeds (corruption, etc) of the past Awami League gov also helped in this as general people were in many respects demoralised by then. Given all the above is it too difficult for us to surmise or conclude why/how/and for what purpose the BDR ‘revolt’ occurred without so much as a hint? If anybody has any doubts kindly go back to past incidents during the BNP-Jamaat rule — the shipment of 10 truckloads of arms in CUFL jetty meant for ULFA. Is our DGFI/NSI so inefficient whereby they can keep detail track records of students/business big wigs/party leaders, etc but not national issues/incidents? Where were they during the CUFL incident; BDR incident? Come on everyone. Wake-up. It is one thing to know and accept, and may be for some acquiesce on the above, but there can be justification for denying such glaring facts.