The government even so far initiated no further investigation recommended by the two probe bodies the government had instituted to identify the reason, plot and plotters.
On February 25, 2009, several hundred BDR soldiers took weapons against their officers deputed from army at Durbar Hall during their annual gathering at the paramilitary headquarters in Dhaka. In the two-day rebellion, 75 people – 57 army officers, wives of two army officers, nine BDR soldiers, five civilians, an army soldier and a police constable – were killed.
Families of both slain officers and convicted soldiers said that the nation should know the reason behind the rebellion and the plot and plotters of the massacre, as neither any investigation nor any trial revealed them although the trials of all cases but one were completed.
‘The godfathers are untouched. Deep conspiracy theories are factually evident but no one dares to point the finger. Somebody will open the Pandora one day,’ retired major general Rezaqul Haider told New Age. Like him, many retired senior officials wanted to know who were behind the scene.
Slain colonel Kudrat Elahi’s son Saquib Rahman said, ‘I think the reason for this is that people are of the opinion that there were men behind the guns, who are yet to be unveiled.’
He said, ‘Unsure of what reasons they might have had to instigate such bloodshed, or who they were, but it was certainly not just the BDR soldiers. Thus, my honest answer would be, yes, I have received justice, but partially. I feel that demanding the trial of the conspirators will be a cry in the wilderness.’
Kamrul Hassan, eldest brother of a soldier initially convict but later acquitted by the High Court, said his family lost everything to get justice.
Families of the victims and convicts demanded that the reports of the government inquiry committee headed by former secretary Anis-uz-Zaman Khan and the investigation conducted by the army be made public, although none of the probes could reportedly identify the plot and plotters.
The report by Anis-uz-Zaman Khan recommended an investigation into the failure to gather intelligence about the planned mutiny. The government report also stated the committee was unable to determine the identity of the individuals who planned the mutiny and set it in motion.
The committee also found that many mutineers took up arms spontaneously, either because they believed the propaganda that the army was taking over, or because they were coerced or found it expedient to do so. The report emphasised the lack of cooperation it received from the various security forces in the country, including Directorate General of Forces Intelligence and Rapid Action Battalion.
The committee noted that because they ‘did not have proper tools, technology, and technique for questioning the suspected persons to reveal the truth, almost no person presented or brought to the committee for questioning provided any important information or proof.’
A 20-member army team conducted an investigation, but the army did not make the results public. The Human Rights Watch obtained the army report and stated that the army report faulted the government for not having taken a stronger line against BDR before the rebellion.
The rights group also urged the government to establish an independent investigative and prosecutorial task force with sufficient expertise, authority, and resources to rigorously investigate and, where appropriate, prosecute all allegations of unlawful deaths, torture, and mistreatment of suspects in the BDR mutiny, regardless of the perpetrator’s rank or institutional affiliation.
Home minister Asaduzzaman Khan on Saturday said that he found no move to launch further investigation into the incident.
According to a study conducted by Odhikar, at least 47 BDR personnel died while in custody. Over 17,000 soldiers faced different trials for their alleged involvement in the third rebellion took place in the force since the country’s independence in 1971.
Border guard special courts sentenced 5,926 soldiers for varying terms on munity charge in 57 cases, including 11 in Dhaka. The Dhaka Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court on November 5, 2013 sentenced 152 soldiers and a civilian to death, 161 people to imprisonment for life term and 256 others for varying terms ranging from three to 10 years with fine on charge of murder, arson and other criminal offences committed during the rebellion. The court acquitted 277 others of the charges. They were, however, yet to be released as they were either convicted by other courts or named in the explosives case.
In November 2017, a three-member special High Court beach of Justice Md Shawkat Hossain, Justice Md Abu Zafor Siddique and Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder upheld death sentences of 139 BDR soldiers.
Death sentences of seven other BDR solders and Md Zakir Hossain, then a local Awami League leader, were reduced to life terms. Four other BDR solders were acquitted of the charges and BDR deputy assistant director Habibur Rahman died in jail custody in February 2014 while his appeal against death sentence was pending with the High Court.
The court upheld life terms of 146 BDR soldiers, cancelled life term sentences of 12 others while two others died during pendency of their appeals.
‘Look, we have done investigation, and identified the plotters and their plot. The real perpetrators have already been identified by the investigation,’ said additional chief prosecutor Musharraf Hossain Kajol.
Defence counsel Faruque Ahmed alleged that the prosecution was delaying the trial of the explosive substance case and only 52 prosecution witnesses had so far testified in the case. Due to the case, none of the former riflemen could come out of the jail over four years.
- Courtesy: New Age, Feb 25, 2018
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