Justice has been dispensed in the BDR killing case, but the wives of 10 army officials killed during the 2009 BDR mutiny are still unsure whether to be satisfied at the death sentences given to the disgruntled soldiers and why the uprising took place in the first place.
All they now want is quick execution of the sentences.
“We cannot say whether we are satisfied or dissatisfied at the verdict. The state took its due course and today the verdict was delivered. We have long waited for this verdict. Now, starts the waiting for its execution,” said Nehreen Ferdousi, wife of slain Col Md Mujibul Haq.
She expressed concern that the executions were likely to linger as there would be appeals against the sentences.
Nasrin, wife of slain officer Maj Mohammad Saleh, said: “We want to know the exact reasons behind the mutiny. It is not clear from the verdict what the reasons were behind such brutality.”
She complained that the findings of the investigations into the incidents were still unknown to them.
Nehreen believes it is important that they learnt the reasons behind the mutiny that led to such horrible tragedy in their lives.
The verdict in the killing of 74, including 57 army officials, during the mutiny on February 25-26, 2009 mentioned political, social, financial and diplomatic initiatives to tarnish the country’s image and break the morale of military forces as some on the reasons that had caused the mutiny in the erstwhile BDR.
The wives of slain Col Mujibul Haq, Col M Anisuzzaman, Col Kazi Emdadul Haque, Col Shamsur Arefin, Lt Col Inshad Ibne Amin, Lt Col Shamsul Azam, Lt Col Abu Musa Aiyub Kaiser, Maj Kazi Mossadek Hossain, Maj M Saleh and Maj Mosharraf Hossain on Tuesday went to the temporary court set up in the Bakshibazar Alia Madrasa field to hear the judgement.
They arrived on the court premises in a microbus around 11am. They sat in seats reserved for them but rarely talked to each other while waiting for the third Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge M Akhtaruzzaman to start the court.
After the verdict was delivered, Maj Tarik of Border Guard Bangladesh escorted them to a room for prosecution lawyers. Journalists were allowed to talk to them after around 45 minutes.
Royena Matin, wife of slain Lt Col Inshad Ibne Amin, said: “The faster the execution begins, the better. How can we say we are satisfied until the verdict is executed?”
Naznin Ahmed, wife of slain Col Kazi Emdadul Haque, said: “We also want to know who killed who. We want to know them by their names.”