BDR Mutiny
Exemplary punishment is required
MANY a tragic stories of brutal and senseless killings of army officers have come to be known only after the BDR mutiny was quelled and the situation came under control. The entire process of negotiation with the rebels and surrendering of arms took little over 30 hours without causing any consequential loss of life and property there and government's efforts have been widely appreciated both at home and abroad. This gruesome incident at the BDR headquarters at Pilkhana involved crimes against humanity, service rule and, above all, against social values. Naturally, exemplary punishment through the legal processes must be meted out to the culprits. And possibly that is why the demand for awarding punishment to the culprits has been gaining momentum every day. As soon as the mutiny was brought under control, many opinions and views - sometimes conflicting and confusing - had been expressed from different quarters through the media as well as in other platforms. Military personnel have different views. Political parties and their supporters have come out with their own interpretations. Even the Parliament members had their say on this mutiny in the parliament. In fact, in the midst of widely expressed emotional discussions and country-wide condemnation, the demand for punishment to the culprits is increasing day by day. Now the question arises as to why this demand for awarding punishment is being uttered everywhere and by every quarters? The answer is very simple. Our past experiences in similar or near similar situations, or in case of an army revolt, speak of a completely different story. As Director of ISPR, Ministry of Defense from 1972 to 1980, I have had the sad experiences to see some of the army revolts in Bangladesh from close quarters and in most such cases no punishment, not to speak of exemplary ones, was meted out to the culprits. And possibly that is why people in general - civilians, military personnel, politicians, intellectuals, professionals, media men, all have come out with the demand for punishment. This has become all the more stronger and pervasive because of the fact that the military personnel and others involved in such previous mutinies or the act of brutal and inhuman killings have in most cases never been punished. As a result, the recurrence of rebellious activities is still on no matter what the reason is. What happened on August 15, 1975? The Father of the Nation and President of the country Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and most of his family members were brutally killed by a section of army personnel, both retired and in active service. Were any action taken against the killers? In fact no punitive action was taken against anybody involved in the brutal and heinous crime. On the contrary, the then military government awarded immunity to the killers. Not only that, the killers were even rewarded by giving them diplomatic assignments abroad and possibly that is why we are still suffering from the after effects and consequential impacts of such brutal, inhuman, immoral and unethical acts in the name of mutiny by a section of army personnel. What happened to the perpetrators of the jail killings? The inmates of a jail or a prison house are normally like guests of the government. Eminent political personalities like Syed Nazrul Islam, Tajuddin Ahmed, Capt Mansur Ali and Quamruzzaman who led our Liberation War as members of the exiled Mujibnagar government in the absence of Bangabandhur Sk Mujibur Rahman were brutally killed inside Dhaka central jail on Nov 3, 1975 by the same group of army personnel who killed Bangabandhu and his family members. What punishment was given to the killers of the national heroes and that too inside a jail? Even a normal investigation and trial process did not take place for a long time and the sad story is known to all. The events and the circumstances which led to the killing of a very bright army officer and a valient freedom fighter who was founder commander of S Force during the war of Independence, Brig Khaled Mosharraf, (who later became Major General) along with very courageous freedom fighters like Col Huda and Col Hyder are still officially unknown to the people. What actually happened on that day and why such brilliant officers had to die in such an unceremonious way is still unknown. Can't such brutal killing of the valiant freedom fighters be made public and the culprits given exemplary punishment? What happened to General M.A Manzur, another bright army officer and a sector commander of our Liberation War who was brutally killed along with other freedom fighter officers in mysterious circumstances in Chittagong in 1981? The real story is still unknown to the people and the culprits are still unknown, and the trial processes are still on after twenty-eight years of the occurrence. According to available information, as many as twenty-one army coup took place from 1975 to 1981 and in many cases no effective or strong punitive actions were taken. And possibly because of absence of normal legal processes and transparent and acceptable trial methods, the culprits in those cases got immunity and faced no punishment for their grave offences, violating service rule and discipline. Had there been examples set through trial processes in all those cases in the past, possibilities of recurrence of such activities would have, by this time, diminished. What happened at the BDR headquarters at Pilkhana on Feb 25-26 was not at all a small occurrence. It has cast a heavy blow to the nation and has shaken up the army set-up as well as the BDR out-fit. It will take a long time to compensate the loss. So we must now stand united and continue with firm resolve and determination to ensure a really exemplary punishment to the guilty for their brutal act so that peaceful and immediate restoration of normalcy in every areas, sections and branches of BDR and its chain of command is possible within the shortest possible time. Hopefully once the culprits are punished through a transparent trial, the nation will not have to face similar crisis any more in future. The author is former Director, ISPR, Ministry of Defense.
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