Massacre at the BDR headquarter

Bears the Hallmark of the War-Criminals
Photo AFP: More graves have been found in Dhaka, Bangladesh, after a mutiny by border guards earlier this week which left scores dead

JITEN ROY

BY NOW we know what happened inside the BDR camp that day, which I do not want to talk about here. Instead, I will talk about what did not happen that day. First, let's concentrate on the execution style of the massacre: the killing, the body mutilation, the mass-grave, the rape, the arson, the looting, etc. Don't you think all these can be likened with the massacre that followed after the March 25, 1971? Surely it does.

This event, once again, reminds us that anti-liberation war-criminals are not sitting idle. They never do. In fact, they are still fighting the anti-liberation war inside Bangladesh. The very existence of Bangladesh is an ideological defeat for them. As a result, they patiently wait for the opportune moments. Once that moment arrives, they spring up with all their might to win over that lost battle. Now, why do I bring this inference into a legitimate dispute between the BDR forces and their Army officers?

The BDR discontent provided a unique opportunity for the war-criminals to flare up a bigger conflict between the BDR and the Armed forces. Motivating the BDR forces to revolt against the Armed forces was an easy task. The condition was perfect to take advantage of. The war-criminals did not miss that opportunity. The plan was to start an armed struggle between the BDR and the Armed forces to destabilize the government. Had the plan been executed as planned, the government would fall, and the looming trials of the war-criminals would come to a halted for good. In my humble opinion, this was the truth behind the BDR mutiny, which obviously only a handful of the BDR soldiers, if at all, were aware of. Others may have believed that they are fighting a genuine battle to take revenge for all injustices done to them by the Army offices. Majority of them may not be smart enough to smell the conspiracy that they were just being exploited by the outside interest groups, who supplied them with unlimited financing, and truck-loads of arms and ammunitions. If they were smart enough, they could ask themselves why outside agents were so sympathetic to their grievances.

We have been lucky this time that it was a failed attempt by the war-criminals to destabilize the country once again, and the credit goes to the Armed forces. Their prudent response during this crisis saved the country from a major calamity. The government should learn lessons also from this national tragedy. Military intelligence and other security branches should include non-political civilian members and administrators to maintain balance of power in those organizations. I am still puzzled by the fact that such a long term conspiracy inside the BDR cantonment escaped the radar-screens of the military intelligence branches, which tells me that the intelligence branches are mainly used by the government powers to control public dissidence, criticism, and free-speeches. That's a shame, indeed. No system can work properly if it is designed to favor a particular group. If we are genuinely interested in stopping similar events in the future, all intelligence branches should be overhauled right now. #

Prof. Jiten Roy is a scientist, scholar and columnist based in Bangladesh. He is a 1971 liberation war veteran and President of International Federation of Bangladeshi Hindus