Rakin Ahmed, son of Major-General Shakil Ahmed, slain during the Pilkhana massacre with army officers and civilians in a mutiny of Bangladesh's paramilitary unit that guards the country's border, alleged that Sheikh Hasina, Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh and Sheikh Selim were directly involved in the incident in the force's headquarters 15 years ago.
The allegations were made during a press conference held at the RAOWA Club in Mahakhali, Dhaka, on Saturday.
Rakin also suggested that along with Dhaka South City Mayor Taposh, former Gopalganj-2 MP Selim and the deposed prime minister, Hasina, were among others involved behind the scenes in the incident known as the BDR (Bangladesh Rifles) mutiny and that an independent commission would reveal their names.
On February 25 and 26, 2009, just 50 days after Sheikh Hasina's government assumed power, a mutiny broke out at the BDR (now BGB) headquarters in Pilkhana. A group of BDR soldiers rebelled, taking control of the headquarters.
During this mutiny, they killed 57 army officers, including Major-General Shakil Ahmed, the then Director-General of BDR, along with 17 civilians. The mutineers also fired on civilians, held several officers and their families hostage, vandalised property, and looted valuables. After several rounds of negotiations with the government, the rebels eventually surrendered their weapons, leading to the resolution of the mutiny.
On November 5, 2013, the Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Court sentenced 152 persons to death and 161 others to life imprisonment for their involvement in the mutiny. Additionally, 25 persons were given prison terms ranging from three to ten years, while 277 individuals were acquitted.
Advocate Sakib Rahman, son of the late Colonel Shafique, also spoke at the conference, highlighting that the investigation report on the BDR killings, conducted by Lieutenant-General Jahangir Alam, was amended thrice before being released to the media.
He called for the release of the original, unedited report.
The families of the victims urged the people to refer to the event as "BDR Massacre" instead of "BDR Mutiny".
They also suggested that India's involvement in the incident and the narrative about a dispute over Dal-Bhat were "false and were used to mislead the public about the true nature of the events".
At the press conference, they said, "We are the family members of the Bangladesh Army officers, martyred (Shaheed Families) in the BDR Pilkhana Killings on February 25-26, 2009. We, who are left behind, the martyrs' mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters, spouses, sons and daughters, have endured profound despair for 15 years".
To ensure that no such incident occurs ever again and to ensure that future generations learn about the gross human rights violations that took place on that day, the Shaheed Families, further called upon the interim government to take the following measures for memorialisation of these killings:
They called for publishing an official gazette, to declare the February 25th as "Martyred Soldiers' Day" or "Shoheed Shena Dibosh", and to acknowledge each fallen officer as a martyr.
They also called upon the interim government for publishing the reports of all investigations held into the tragedy, including those held by the Ministry of Home Affairs and by the Army, to the members of the Shaheed Families and to the public.
They also demanded setting up an inquiry commission in public interest to unearth the facts behind the brutal killings in accordance with the recommendations of all three judges of the High Court Division of the Supreme Court in its judgment of 2017 in relation to the BDR Pilkhana Killings (published in 2020).
"The Shaheed Families do not want to see other families destroyed and we therefore call upon the interim government to ensure that no Jawan (former BDR soldier) continues to be imprisoned for crimes they have not committed. Bangladesh Army officers, who lost their jobs for rightfully voicing their opinions for proper justice, must be reinstated or duly compensated," they said.
Labi Rahman, the widow of Colonel Qudrat-e-Rahman, echoed Rakin's accusations, urging journalists to conduct a thorough investigation opining that press freedom has been restored.
"There was no freedom before, but now there is. It's time to uncover the truth and name those responsible", she asserted.
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