Retired Major General ALM Fazlur Rahman, who is leading the new inquiry commission into the 2009 BDR killings, believes there was no mutiny within the border force and that the event was “a conspiracy” aimed at killing army officers.
The former BDR director general, who was appointed chief of the commission by the interim government two weeks ago, described the two-day incident at the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) Headquarters in Dhaka’s Pilkhana as a “repeat of the Battle of Plassey.”
Speaking at a discussion with retired army personnel in the capital on Monday, he said: “Our army was on the ground, and local and foreign conspirators carried out the massacre together.”
The seven-member commission was formed on December 23, in response to calls for a reinvestigation into the killings of 74 people, including 57 army officers, which caused a major stir both domestically and internationally during the Awami League government.
The commission has been tasked with submitting its findings to the government within 90 days, but it has not yet started its investigation in earnest. Offices and vehicles have not yet been provided.
Commission chief Fazlur, who served as the BDR director general from February 29, 2000, to July 11, 2001, attended a meeting with the families of those killed in the BDR massacre at the Retired Armed Forces Officers’ Welfare Association (RAOWA) Complex in the capital’s Mohakhali.
On July 11, 2001, he was removed from his post as BDR director general and returned to the army after a clash with the BSF at the Rowmari border in Kurigram. He was sent into early retirement on March 17, 2002, during the BNP-Jamaat coalition government.
Representatives of RAOWA, relatives of the officers killed in Pilkhana on February 25 and 26, 2009, surviving officers from Pilkhana, and those who were serving in the army at the time were present at the meeting.
After the representatives spoke, the head of the independent probe commission addressed some of their questions.
He said, “It’s not a mutiny. It was a conspiracy to kill the officers. The BDR has been weakened because of it, its name has been changed. The army has been weakened, and the country has been weakened.”
“Many people still say India is involved. Many of us may have an opinion. I want to say one thing for the sake of an impartial investigation,” he added.
“It won’t be enough to just say India is involved, or a general is involved. There has to be evidence against them. Big or small, it doesn’t matter – but proof is a must. A lot will depend on that.”
Fazlur told bdnews24.com that the commission would soon launch a website to request documentary evidence and data.
“We have already received many responses in various ways. We will not hide them,” he added.
