Untold Facts

Peelkhana Massacre: Viewed from Dhaka Cantonment

On the 25th of February, at Dhaka Peelkhana behind the barred gates of the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) headquarters, a massacre took place in broad daylight. It was a planned massacre of the commanders of the BDR gathered at the headquarters, unarmed, for an annual ceremonial Darbar (general meeting of BDR members).

The public was only aware of grievous troubles accompanied by sporadic firing by trigger-happy BDR men gone haywire within BDR compounds. Stray bullets and splinters wounded pedestrians and some people in the vicinity, killing one. The Prime Minister reported later to the Parliament (and also to a Darbar at the army headquarters) that she was apprised at around 9.30 a.m. that day of the danger to the lives of the commanding officers of the BDR. She was contacted on telephone by the besieged Director General himself who was still alive at that time.

It appears she was advised by her confidants to try to quell the armed mutiny (against commanders but not against the ruling cabinet, her confidants presumed) by friendly persuasion, opening a channel for collective bargaining by mutineers. As Defence Minister, she was concerned about the chain of command and discipline of the armed services of the State, and as Prime Minister, she virtually commanded the military machine of the state by executive authority as well as by binding advice to the Supreme Commander and President of the Republic.

But as political leader and head of government, she thought it fit to assign to Sahara Khatun, the Home Minister who administered the BDR, to take charge of the situation. She also sent her LGRD state minister Nanak to Peelkhana to establish direct contact with the mutineers.

On Feb 26th The Economist print edition of U.K. reported: “Mutiny in Bangladesh”.

The report said: “Only two months after a return to democratic rule, Bangladesh’s new government faces its toughest test yet. On February 25th the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), a 45,000-strong paramilitary force, primarily responsible for guarding the country’s borders, staged an armed mutiny. The renegade troops took 100 hostages and killed their commanding officer and many others. The Army moved in to quell the mutiny. There ensued a 20-hour siege of the BDR’s headquarters that left perhaps 50 people dead and turned a posh residential area of Dhaka into a battle-zone.

“Sheikh Hasina, the Prime Minister, offered an amnesty and in response the mutineers began to surrender. But the next day the rebellion rekindled and spread to a dozen other towns across the country.”

As The Economist said, “There were reports that the Army was taking control of BDR border posts and tanks were approaching BDR headquarters in Dhaka. The Government has agreed to consider the mutineers’ demands for better conditions. Another grievance is believed to be the BDR’s exclusion from lucrative UN peacekeeping missions. The crisis will strain the army’s relations with the new government, led by Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League, which won a huge parliamentary majority in an election in December. Since then, Sheikh Hasina has moved swiftly to limit the army’s role. However, with many of its officers among the dead, the army might resist the amnesty and push for the legal penalty for mutiny: death by hanging.”

Army officers in Dhaka Cantonment and in other command zones throughout the country were indeed very very angry, but remained disciplined.

The media in Bangladesh was carried away by the sob stories of the mutineers, the injustice of their service conditions. The mutineers met the press at the gates of Peelkhana BDR headquarters with face partly covered with red scarves, or called pressmen in for interviews. They called their commanding officers thieves who profited from Dal bhat operations (a temporary fair price shops chain run by BDR during the market crisis in 2008).

“The army officers, called in to stand by around Peelkhana and in their posts elsewhere, fumed as they considered the media misrepresentation of the mutiny and the time-killing in the name of peaceful persuasion of mutineers to lay down their arms would in reality allow the armed rebels to carry out cold-blooded massacre of prized army officers, do the needful to hide the bodies and other clues of the conspiracy, and escape.

That is what actually happened in what was termed a political resolution of the crisis. The army officers obeyed and stayed aloof, but were able to prevail on their defence minister to reconsider the amnesty declared in the political handling process of the crisis and the Prime Minister annulled the amnesty post-facto after the revelation of the extent of massacre and other vile crimes committed by the mutineers.

Frantic e-mails, however, continued to be sent out by armed forces officers, to retired armed services personnel linked with the media and the civil society, to tell media personnel and talk-show celebrities to stop spreading canards against the Army at the behest of the mutineers.

I quote one such e-mail:

“Take the salute of Bangladesh Army. We feel aggrieved how easily you were bluffed about what happened at Peelkhana by the so called cause of the BDR jawans on 25th February 2009. This is what really happened:

“On 25 February, the mutiny at Peelkhana is reported to the Prime Minister’s office by direct phone call around 9.30 a.m. An S.O.S was communicated to the Government for rescue by the officers in peril, who await army help.

RAB arrives at Peelkhana gate at about 10 a.m. and ready to move in. Home Ministry said a stubborn “No”.

Troops of Mirpur Cantt and Dhaka Cantt arrive at Peelkhana by 11:30 a.m. they seek permission to go in. Again a big “No”.

Innocent media people, bluffed by the BDR jawans, focus to the nation the “right cause” of rebellious BDR who ask for BCS officers…..!!!”

The e-mail reads: “The Govt sends Nanok and others and they enter “courageously” into BDR Peelkhana. They are confident that they may safely come back and they will not be not hold hostage.”

At 4:30 pm, army tanks are ready to go in, briefing done. Again a big “No”. The army is told to go 3 km away from Peelkhana.”

Night comes. Sahara and Nanok enter BDR and all lights are off. Sahara visits families of army officers without Nanok as seen on TV channels through BTV footage. She DOES NOT meet any (captive) army officer of BDR.”

Media people telecast live sound of firing from inside Peelkhana when Sahara is inside.”

According to the e-mail, “Sahara Khatun comes out and faces the media. Some channel representative asks her, ‘When you were inside, we heard the sound of gunfire. Did you hear it?’ She says, ‘No. I did not hear any firing’. Sahara did not mention anything about the 168 officers inside, nor the media men asked her where the officers were.”

The e-mail further reads, “THIS WAS BECAUSE AT THAT TIME B.D.R. WAS COMPLETING THE TOTAL KILLING OF OFFICERS STILL ALIVE AND HARASSING THIER FAMILIES UNDER THE EYES OF NANOK; AND MASS GRAVES WERE BEING PREPARED. Please refer to the NTV exclusive with Major Mokarram on 28th evening. He said that he heard the voice of Home Minister entering into the kote (armoury) when she was surrounded by BDR gunmen.”

IG of Police freely moved in because his daughter and son -in-law Haider were kept (later found killed) inside. He ensures the rescue of his daughter, married 82 days earlier.”

Only police personnel were allowed to enter Peelkhana and throughout the night they find only 7 dead bodies and suggest that search could not be done due to darkness.”

The e-mail adds, “NON-MILITARY AMBULANCES ENTER AND LEAVE PEELKHANA A NUMBER OF TIMES AND TAKE AWAY SO MANY DEAD BODIES….. BUT THE TOTAL STILL REMAINS 7. Only 5-7 other bodies appear from canal behind BDR, naturally coming out under drainage pressure. ABOUT 32 KILLERS WERE TAKEN AWAY BY THOSE AMBULANCES WITHOUT TAKING OUT ANY OF THE HOSTAGES.

Next morning on 26 February there is no sign of bodies. Bodies and mass graves are discovered after army and fire brigade (fire brigade boss is a brigadier of army) enter into Peelkhana late in the morning.

Size and depth of mass graves indicate that killers used the whole night to dig those and also to FLY AWAY from PEELKHANA. Only about 200 fools of BDR were left at Peelkhana when the Army was allowed to move in.

Nanok in a media briefing in front of Peelkhana declares that “It was a big conspiracy and crores of Takas were distributed in Peelkhana.” DEAR MEDIA, HE WAS RIGHT. BECAUSE (allegedly) EACH DAD (Deputy Asst Director, junior officer of BDR) WORKING AT PEELKHANA GOT TK 25 LAC between 22 and 24th February, distributed by Nanok’s men.

“You see how brutally the representative of Bangladeshi people, elected just 50 days back-Sahara, Nanok, Mirza Azam and Jalil…..all of them ensured that your officers and their families, the officers of Bangladeshi people, are killed and molested (the e-mail said).

“Only about 37 or 57 officers were killed in our War of Liberation 1971 by Pakistanis in 9 months. It is now clear that Nanok and DAD Tauheed had been communicating with each other for last one month plus. Home Minister and Nanok arranged the safe exit of the rebel BDR troops from Peelkhana throughout the night,” the e-mail alleged.

“Bangladesh Army was not allowed to fire on the plea that ‘peaceful negotiation’ was going on. If Army troops were allowed to enter Peelkhana even at 4 pm on 25th February, we could save many innocent lives. The people from the area/village of the dead officers will all testify that those were our golden sons of the soil. They did prove it in UN missions. That is why Bangladesh is the largest troops contributing country to UN. It is not India, Pakistan, US or Canada.

We are not asking you to believe this email. We are requesting you to use you judgement.”

“The army officers, however, obeyed their superiors and heard their defence minister when she addressed them in Dhaka Cantonment. But the continuing saga of the Peelkhana tragedy is having repercussions which we intend to follow up in the next issue.”

Author: ASadeq Khan
Source: Weekly Holiday