BDR carnage of 2009 was preplanned, real culprits rewarded

Major General Abdul Matin (rtd), centre, briefed the press and the media on Thursday Sept 5 on the BDR carnage of 2009. Source - Haque Voice

Major General Abdul Matin (retd) second in command of the military court of inquiry on the BDR Mutiny of February 25, 2009 said on Thursday the klling of 57 brilliant officers through it was the outcome of a long-drawn conspiracy, not just dissatisfaction over the ‘Dal-Bhat’ programme or to increase ration. 

He said that conspiracies of an outside country and some betrayers of the land were behind the killings with the aim of weakening Bangladesh for turning it into a subservient country. Moves to quell the mutiny were stalled from day one as assigned units and their officers were ordered not to suppress the onslaught quoting orders from ‘higher authorities’.  

He said that the court of inquiry led by Lt Gen Zahangir Alam Chowdhury (retd), now Interim Government’s Adviser on Home Affairs, had limited terms of reference and even some security agencies did not cooperate and refrained from supporting it with information on the mutiny gathered by them. He demanded a fair probe on the carnage to identify and give exemplary punishment to its perpetrators.

Gen Matin (retd) said the authorites did not allow the report of the court of inquiry to see the light of the day. The trials that were staged subsequeltly were concocted, and the real culprits were given benefits instead of punishment for such a heinous crime.

He said he waited for this day since 2009 to tell the truth to the people through the press and the media and thanked God that he got the freedom to speak because of the second liberation of Bangladesh achieved on 5 August last. He said he lost three course-mates, one class-mate since school days and many students in the carnage and wailed that the classmate was due to retire only three days after the carnage. 

Gen Matin (retd) said the court of inquiry found it urgent to incorporate statements of many civilian people, but could not do so since they were not members of the military and did not cooperate. The court of inquiry in its report had suggested the constitution of and inquiry committee wider in scope to prepare a complete report. But this did not happen.

Apart from some key figures who controlled the military at the time, some elelments within BDR itself had collaborated with the mutineers while some military leaders asked deployed military units from taking action on the plea of orders from higher authorities. He also named some civilians who allegedly called sources outside Bangladesh during the mutiny and engaged in suspicious activities in the name of political solution of the military problem. Some members of the media surprisingly telecast the carnage narrating its fictitious causes and this spread the disturbances in other BDR barracks, he said.

Brig Gen Morshed (retd), Col (retd) Qamruzzaman, Col (retd) abdul Haque among others were present at the press briefing.