The BDR Revolution: One of the most brutal and darkest chapters in the history of Bangladesh

The BDR Revolution: One of the most brutal and darkest chapters in the history of Bangladesh

 

BDR jawan’s taking control of the Pilkhana

The Bangladesh Liberation War was one of the deadliest wars of the 20th century. It led to East Pakistan's independence in 1971. Unfortunately, even after independence was declared, there was still violence. One of the darkest periods in Bangladesh's history was the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) rebellion of 2009, also known as the Pilkhana Massacre.

Background

The Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) were Bangladesh's border security unit, in charge of securing the nation's frontiers. On February 25, 2009, the BDR soldiers at the Pilkhana headquarters in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, rebelled against their commanders. When rebellious BDR soldiers took over the BDR headquarters in Pilkhana, they killed Shakil Ahmed, who was in charge of the BDR, along with 56 other army officers and 17 civilians.

Causes of the Revolt

The main reason the BDR soldiers did what they did was to protest that senior BDR officials were involved in a plot and that army officers had stolen soldiers' pay bonuses from the Operation Dal-Bhaat Program and from extra work done for the general elections on December 29, 2008. The BDR ran a charity program called Operation Dal-Bhaat to help the needy by giving them rice and other daily necessities. Other requests were to stop rationing, include BDR soldiers in peacekeeping operations, and improve the general well-being of BDR members.

The Massacre

People are taking the bodies out of the mass grave.

The mutiny lasted for three days, during which the mutineers killed 74 people, including 57 army officers who were present at the Pilkhana headquarters. The victims' bodies were dumped in mass graves or sewers, and numerous were never recovered. On February 23, 2009, the body of BDR chief Maj. Gen. Shakil Ahmed was set up among those 41 other army officers. A mass grave was set up outside, near the BDR hospital. In a seven-foot-deep pit, 42 officers were discovered to be buried. At least six bodies were set up in drain coverts. Out of the 58 bodies that were set up, 52 were army officers. On February 27, 2009, the body of the BDR chief's wife was recovered, and three further mass graves were set up. Numerous of the bodies had poorly perished and were delicate to identify.

Discovering the bodies

The torture of the people held hostage inside was even worse than the murder. Fabriha Bushra was one of them. She is the elder daughter of Lt. Col. Lutfar Rahman Khan, a psychiatrist at the BDR Hospital who was also killed by jawans that day. Bushra, who lost his father at the age of 14 and was held hostage in the Pilkhana Quarter Guard for 36 hours with his mother and brother, was brutalized. She said in an interview with BBC News Bangla that "those of us who was inside did not see any rebellion. I haven't seen anyone speak out against injustice. We saw the joy on people's faces after killing them. We have seen people being tortured. Going and abusing small children, touching women—what kind of protest is this? I don't want to call it a rebellion; none of us wants to call it a rebellion. I want to call it carnage. I want to call it mascara. Rebellion is against injustice. What wrong did my father do?"

Investigations and Trials

Members of the former Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) are summoned for a hearing before a special court in Dhaka.

The case revealed significant conflicts between the military and the government. The military was furious with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's decision to negotiate with the jawans rather than attack. Once dozens of bodies were found in mass graves and sewers, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina withdrew her amnesty to stop the revolt. Then the Bangladeshi government immediately started investigating the massacre. 6,000 soldiers were convicted of mutiny and condemned to four months to seven years in collective trials. 823 soldiers accused of killing their superiors were tried in a civilian court for murder, torture, conspiracy, and other offenses. On November 5, 2013, the Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Court sentenced 152 to death, 161 to life, 256 to three to ten years, and 277 to acquittal. New York-based Human Rights Watch has called for a retrial. The group claimed defendants were underrepresented and may not receive a fair trial. Officials deny reports that suspects were tortured or killed, casting a cloud over the probe. Authorities say at least 50 border guards detained for questioning have died in detention. Rights groups disputed the military's claim that several convicts committed suicide or died from heart attacks or other diseases.

The Result

No one will ever understand the pain of losing loved ones except those who have been through it themselves.

It’s been 14 years since this chapter started, and still, the conspirators behind the BDR mutiny in Bangladesh have not been fully revealed. Some people who were involved in the mutiny were found and tried for their actions, but the masterminds behind the plot are still unknown. Many of the families of the people who died are upset and frustrated that the investigation into the mutiny is not moving forward. They also said they were waiting for the execution of the verdict so that no one could dare commit such offenses in the future. Speaking about the reason behind the mutiny, Habibur Rahman, the father of deceased Colonel Quadrat Elahi Rahman Shafique, said: "Nothing [of the actual reason] has been brought to light. I do not know whether I will be able to see the execution of the verdict in my lifetime or not." He [Shafique] had just joined the BDR one month and 10 days before the mutiny. He committed no crime to be killed so brutally," he sighed. "This wound will never heal. I will have to carry it for the rest of my life." Shafique’s son, advocate Saquib Rahman, last saw his father on February 21, 2009, when he came to visit him at Brac University. He remembers telling his father that the uniform did not quite fit him. Just like Shafique’s father, just like Shafique’s son, many others are still hoping that the killers of this heinous murder will be brought to justice.

Conclusion

It has been fourteen years since the BDR rebels brutally killed 57 army officers. Jawan's demands are, for the most part, logical and sound, but the approach they adopted was disagreeable and unpleasant. The pain will never go away, and the deaths will never be forgotten. As a contemporary poet put it so well, "Some pain can't be taken away, only sealed. You can touch the scar to feel how it hasn't healed." To forgive may be divine, but no normal person can reach that level of divinity to forgive those who caused their husbands, fathers, and sons to die in such a horrible way during the mutiny. The people who were close to the dead will feel pain until their last day. The BDR Rebellion will remain one of the darkest chapters in Bangladesh's history.