The Army Chief’s recent speech went viral, where he clarified that the border force’s rank and file were the first line of criminals to have committed murders and other atrocities in the Pilkhana carnage of 2009 and that any conspirators are to be found by the newly formed BDR Investigation Commission.
On February 25 and 26, 2009, my father and 56 other officers of the Bangladesh Army, who were sent on deputation to command the border guard force of Bangladesh (BGB), then known as the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), were brutally murdered by the riflemen inside the force’s headquarters in Pilkhana. Upon the end of the carnage, as the whole country mourned, a total number of 18,519 riflemen were imprisoned for different terms and terminated from service.
Penalty of the wrongdoers
Most of the accused were tried by BDR’s Service Law at the force's special courts. Mutiny carried a maximum sentence of seven years' imprisonment under the Service Law. Therefore, all those convicted have finished serving their sentences and are no longer in the force in its new iteration, BGB.
Apart from the special courts' penalties, the judiciary presided over two specific offenses -- misusing explosives and murder. Those who directly took part in the killings were charged as per the Penal Code in the criminal court. While the murder cases were heard over time and are currently pending at the Supreme Court's Appellate Division, with verdicts of 139 death sentences and 185 lifetime imprisonments passed by the High Court Division, around 800 cases on explosives remain at the trial stage.
Demands by riflemen and families
Months after Sheikh Hasina’s fall, the dismissed riflemen and their families, along with families of those in prison, staged protests at the capital’s Shaheed Minar on January 8 that led to a single point demand, which was two-fold -- “mukti ar chakri.” They stood to ask for the release of all in prison, including those on death row, and reinstatement of the thousands who were dismissed after being convicted as per the Service Law.
They threatened that if the government did not order the release, the protestors would "break into the prisons to free the incarcerated."
A wave of flawed narrative
The riflemen and their families, throughout their protest, have gotten the support of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, which helped them receive significant media attention.
It was hurtful on the part of the victims' families to see how the media portrayed riflemen who took to the streets to protest, as actual sufferers. The riflemen, their families, and the students voiced to establish that the carnage was a result of Sheikh Hasina's conspiracy alongside neighbouring India. They claimed that none of the riflemen were involved in any atrocities during the carnage and were all subject to farcical trials as part of Hasina’s plot -- Undoubtedly, they were "playing the victims”.
Since the court hearings on recent explosive cases, some medias immaturely began to highlight the miseries of the riflemen who received bail, with saddening background music on their digital stories. Notably, their trials are ongoing, and their chances of conviction remain.
Strong condemnation by the victims’ families
On January 29, at a press conference, we, the victims' families, strongly condemned how certain quarters were twisting stories of the carnage and changing the narrative on who was behind the killings.
Thankfully, leaders of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement realized this. In two days, on behalf of the riflemen and their families, they have put forward a new set of demands, keeping the victims' families' "emotions and sentiments" into consideration. Now, they no longer ask for the unconditional release of those charged with murder.
Fearing for my life
Since our press conference on January 29, I, as the principal spokesperson on behalf of the victims’ families, have been receiving a considerable amount of threats on social media, mainly from the riflemen’s well-wishers.
I genuinely struggle to understand how they mindlessly deny the mayhem committed by the first line of perpetrators (riflemen) and only blame the second line -- Sheikh Hasina, leaders of the Awami League, and influential serving and retired army personnel, alongside the third line -- India and its intelligence wing.
The readers need to know what the victims' families had gone through during the massacre -- The riflemen had grabbed the slain officers’ wives and children by their necks and hair and dragged them from their homes to 36 hours of confinement inside the small BDR headquarters quarter guards’ space. They were subject to uncouth behaviour, hit by rifle butts, and kicked by the boots. They were provided with no food, water, medical support, or access to the toilet. The riflemen looted from the residences of the slain officers, burned their vehicles, and destroyed personal properties.
It is notable that all three types of cases -- Service Law, explosives, and murder cases, required sufficient evidence to establish the riflemen’s wrongdoings beyond reasonable doubt. The victims' families and survivors had provided witness testimonies. This means that the riflemen and their families' narratives on how some external force played the BDR rank and file, and that they committed no crimes – are nothing short of blatant lies. There is no scope to invalidate the resolved or pending trials against the riflemen.
It is worth mentioning that we, the victims' families, in a recent statement, have also urged the BDR Investigation Commission to unearth the mystery behind the custodial deaths of a significant number of riflemen, since we, too, believe that there were conspirators behind the tragedy. In fact, in December, we filed a complaint in the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) of Bangladesh against Sheikh Hasina, a few other Awami League leaders and also those who served her interests from within the military during the carnage.
That being said, I have also been a target of the Awami League, its affiliates and allies since the ICT complaint. Although they might not currently be well organized as a political entity, they are still very active on internet platforms to intimidate.
To conclude, I request the government to acknowledge that some of us, the spokespersons of the victims' families, feel the need to be ensured of our security. I no longer feel safe outside my home and have not been moving around without my vehicle lately. I can very well imagine that the situation is going to worsen during the murder trial executions, and once Sheikh Hasina and other plotters are convicted.
This is unfortunate because all I want is justice for the gruesome nature of death my father had to go through.
Advocate Saquib Rahman is the Editor of Progress Magazine and Senior lecturer of law at North South University. He is the son of slain Col Quadrat Elahi.
