The Anti-Discrimination Student Movement has suspended its planned besiege of the office of Law Adviser Prof Asif Nazrul, issuing a five-day ultimatum for the formation of a commission to ensure justice for the 2009 BDR massacre.
The suspension was announced following a briefing by Home Adviser Lieutenant General Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury (Retd) on Tuesday morning where he announced that the Ministry of Home Affairs will form a committee within next five working days to ensure justice for the BDR tragedy.
At a rally held at the Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka on Tuesday, Mahin Sarkar, a member of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement’s executive committee, shared the decision to suspend the protest.
He said: “We are giving five days for the formation of a commission to investigate the BDR massacre. If the information on its formation is not revealed to the nation within this time, and if it includes any collaborators, we will confront them on the streets.”
Mahin Sarkar continued: “The commission must include patriotic members of the armed forces, victims, and student representatives from the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement. The findings of the commission must be published in the shortest possible time. Those imprisoned in connection with the incident must be released through a fair trial.
“We also demand an explanation of the contradictory statements made by the law adviser and the home adviser. The affected officers must be reinstated in their jobs, and they should be given state recognition.”
The student leader criticized the interim government’s post-July revolution decisions, saying they have disappointed everyone involved in the movement.
“Efforts are being made to obstruct trial for those involved in the BDR massacre. Even after the July revolution, many innocent people related to the BDR rebellion remain imprisoned. Six died without trial. Initially, there was a promise of forming an independent commission to investigate the BDR massacre. However, later statements by the Ministry of Law and Ministry of Home Affairs left us disheartened.”
He added: “After our announcement of this movement (besieging the law adviser’s office), you declared the formation of a commission. Why do we have to resort to protest? You are not a revolutionary government but representatives of the revolutionaries. Do not delay or mislead us—there will be consequences. Additionally, we demand that the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) revert to its previous name, BDR.”
Victim family members and student-citizen representatives also spoke at the gathering.
The affected families emphasized that the commission should not be composed solely of law enforcement officials; there must be human rights activists included. A report that is widely acceptable to all must be prepared and presented to the nation to ensure justice, they said.
Earlier, from 11am, students, citizens, and members of victim families of the Pilkhana massacre began gathering at the Shaheed Minar area from different parts of the capital.
They chanted slogans such as, “Disguised as administration, why is India in Bangladesh? Who are you? Who am I? Bangladesh, Bangladesh! Not Delhi but Dhaka, Dhaka, Dhaka! No more stalling justice—it will not continue!”
On Monday evening, Mahin Sarkar announced the besieging program in a Facebook post. The call was supported by Hasanat Abdullah, a key convener of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, who shared the post in solidarity.
