New Delhi:
Bangladesh to investigate 2009 insurgency massacre. The interim government is launching an investigation and trial into the 2009 insurgency in the paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles (BDR). In this, 74 people including 57 military officers serving in the force were killed. The head of the inquiry into this incident said that a commission has ordered an investigation into it. The role of alleged ‘foreign’ supporters was also involved in this massacre.
People demanding investigation into the incident have accused India of being involved in this conspiracy.
The rebellion started in February 2009
The mutiny began on 25–26 February 2009, when army officers refused to meet the demands of BDR soldiers. The rebel soldiers revolted at the Pilkhana headquarters of the BDR in Dhaka and it soon spread to sector headquarters and field units of the Frontier Force throughout the country.
In the rebellion, paramilitary soldiers turned their guns on their commanders, shot them at close range or attacked them with sharp weapons, hid their bodies in sewers and held their terrified family members hostage in barracks. Gave.
Thousands of people were prosecuted after the massacre
In February 2009, insurgents stole thousands of weapons from the headquarters of the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) paramilitary force before beginning a massacre in the barracks.
The rebellion spread quickly, with thousands of soldiers seizing weapons and pledging allegiance to the rebels before the army suppressed it.
Thousands of people were arrested and tried in special military courts following the massacre, as Hasina’s then-newly elected government struggled to regain control.
Later, as part of a massive reconstruction campaign, the government renamed the BDR as Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and also changed its logo, uniform, flag and monogram to free the force from the stigma of insurgency.
We are committed to ensuring justice – Home Advisor to the Interim Government
Advisor to the interim government on Home and Agriculture, Lieutenant General (retd) M Jahangir Alam Chowdhury had said a few days ago that as a civilian and a former army personnel, he was committed to ensuring justice in this tragic incident.
Alam had previously been the BGB chief. He said, ‘Not only as a consultant, but as a former army personnel and an ordinary citizen, I want a fair trial in the BDR murder case.’
There was a demand for investigation into the rebellion case.
After the overthrow of the government in Bangladesh, there was a demand for re-investigation of this incident, especially on social media. However, in 2017, a special bench of the High Court comprising three judges had upheld the death sentence of 139 BDR soldiers after a trial in the lower court.
Soldiers crushed this rebellion in Bangladesh
This violent rebellion had put the South Asian nation Bangladesh in trouble. Later the army crushed this rebellion. Many people were arrested and even sentenced to death.
The last official investigation into the rebellion blamed years of pent-up anger among ordinary soldiers as the cause of many of the deaths. He said that his demands for salary increase and better treatment were continuously being ignored.
However, that investigation was conducted during the tenure of Sheikh Hasina, who was removed from the post of Prime Minister after the coup in August. Then he took refuge in his old ally India.
Since his fall, families of soldiers killed in the violence have been campaigning for the investigation to be reopened. He repeatedly accused Sheikh Hasina of planning to weaken the army to increase her power in a coup-prone country.
More than 60 cases against Sheikh Hasina
Sheikh Hasina, 77, will face at least 60 cases filed in the ICT on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity during the protests and subsequent insurgency in July-August this year.
Hasina left Bangladesh and came to India on August 5 after resigning from the post of Prime Minister following the rebellion during the anti-discrimination student movement. Three days later, the interim government of Bangladesh was formed, whose head or chief advisor was Muhammad Yunus.
A conspiracy was being hatched to murder me – Sheikh Hasina
A few days ago, Yunus had said that Hasina should stop speaking to avoid creating more public anger in Bangladesh. Addressing her supporters online at an event in New York, Hasina had also claimed that a plan was being made to kill her and her sister Sheikh Rehana, just like their father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975. was assassinated.
Calling Yunus ‘power hungry’, Hasina, currently living in India, alleged that places of worship are being attacked in Bangladesh and the present government has completely failed to deal with the situation.
