Bangladesh:Gunfight at BDR headquarters

[leonblack08]

The only party that seems to gain something from this uprising is India. So yes, that 'some one' appears to be Indian RAW.

You are right qsaark.
Just the other day PM said she would make BDR a strong force with better equipments.Now a strong BDR is threat to only two countries,India and Myanmar.
Forget Burmese Intel,they don't have a stronghold here but Indian Intelligence to instigate something like this,possible.But again its too early to say about it.Let the investigation occur.
And Allah knows what will happen tonight,as the Tanks are still not removed.

 

[qsaark]

Why would it? Are they underfed or something?

What about this point

(21) The soldiers have to care for all the trees of the unit. But the fruits of the trees are sent to their [army officers] homes.

Soldiers looking after the trees, no big deal, right? Then the fruits of the trees are sent to army officers. What's wrong with that? Personally I think they should be sent to whoever owns the land the trees sit on, but if the government owns it, it should be sent to whoever the government wants. If that's the army officers, then it should be sent to them.

It's not for the soldiers to decide who gets the fruit, they don't own the trees.

Actually this is something very difficult to understand for us, the undemocratic Pakistanis. We have been living under totalitarian rule for so long that we have actually accepted unjustice as a norm of life. On the other hand, Bangladeshis have always been pro-democracy and well aware of their rights. It is indeed an unjust practice that a few select officers feast on the hard work of a majority of Jawans. That inhumane 'Batman' culture found in our armed forces was from the Brits. It is very unfortunate that the Brits left but we are still embraced with their colonial practices.

 

[HK-47]

Does any one of you live in Dhanmondi?What's the condition there?

sorry missed your post.
They set up a temporary camp in Abahani field Road12/A.Don't live there I got lots of buddies there they saw tanks and troops moving in the field.

 

[Raquib]

You are right qsaark.
Just the other day PM said she would make BDR a strong force with better equipments.Now a strong BDR is threat to only two countries,India and Myanmar.
Forget Burmese Intel,they don't have a stronghold here but Indian Intelligence to instigate something like this,possible.But again its too early to say about it.Let the investigation occur.
And Allah knows what will happen tonight,as the Tanks are still not removed.

Leon, as far I know evey BDR personnels surrendered their weapons, so, there's no chance of having a clash again...

 

[linkinpark]

The only party that seems to gain something from this uprising is India. So yes, that 'some one' appears to be Indian RAW.

Please do tell us, how did India gained out of this self-inflicted embarrassing events happened in BD.

 

[Raquib]

BD army is a professional army, they have been there even before BD was created and has served well, how come such unprofessional ism came up their way. If raising salary was the only issue, perhaps they should have realized that BD is a poor country and no one forced them to join the army, they did so on their own and if they think pay is not enough, perhaps better approach was to just resign and find a new job, why all the killing, a deed of few men have hit hard on the moral of the whole army and the way the world is going to see this. IMO mutineers should not be given a pardon, they have committed a serious crime and hence should be made an example so that next time people think twice before raising arms against their own.

salary was not the only issue bro... I think I should post their demands again for you...

In a letter, they said that the 50 demands they were placing were among hundreds of problems they were facing. The 50 demands and grievances are:

(1) Recruiting officers for the BDR through BCS examinations for its modernisation, and withdrawing all officers of the army deputed to the BDR which a major demand of BDR soldiers.

(2) No steps have been taken, so far, to provide full rationing for the members of this 200-year old paramilitary force. There is neither any ration for its retired soldiers.

(3) Members of all forces and agencies, including the Ansars and VDP are being sent to UN peacekeeping missions but no step has been taken, so far, to send BDR personnel overseas.

(4) The pledges, made time and again in this regard, remain unfulfilled.
Steps have not been expedited to put an end to discrimination in salary structures and promotion procedures.

(5) BDR is being run by the Army’s black law. Punitive measures are been taken under the law of 1984.

(6) A policy has been formulated to punish and deprive educated and capable persons of promotion.

(7) It is only the BDR which is regularly facing war-like situation on the borders but the Army is enjoying the defence allowance sitting back in the barracks.

(8) The Army officers have sent many BDR soldiers home showing different excuses during the Operation Dal-Bhat. In fact, Army officers were responsible for the faults.

(9) The Army officers also have distributed among themselves the DA meant for the BDR soldiers.

(10) All the forces and agencies, except the BDR, had received allowances for duty during the parliamentary and upazila elections. There is a tug of war between the officers for share of the money.
(11) In the name of BDR welfare, retired army officers are running 18 shops in different parts of the capital. These shops do not have any BDR personnel.

(12)The vehicles bought in the name of BDR’s welfare are being used by the Army officers for their private purposes.

(13) The schools inside the BDR headquarters have only a few students from the BDR families. Most of the students are children of the Army officers and their relatives. It is unfortunate that being in the BDR we have to send our children to outside schools.

(14) Our children are not allowed to take admission to the BDR schools and the excuse is that they lack merit although the schools were built to help our children overcome their deficiency. [When the schools were built, we were told they were meant for our children and for that our predecessors gave their labour.]

(15) The wife of the present [BDR] DG was appointed to the post above the principal of the school. A teacher in name only she draws Taka 60,000 as honorarium per month without taking any class.

(16) There is a dairy farm inside the BDR and only a few people get its milk and eggs. The milk and eggs, given to the 50 members from the Army, are much more than that given to the 8,000 members of BDR.

(17) BDR members do not receive good treatment at the BDR hospital. Only their (army) parents and relatives and people from their villages receive treatment. The BDR members are supplied with cheaper medicines while army officers receive expensive drugs.

(18) The BDR Durbar Hall has been leased out to the wife of the present DG for an amount which is one-twentieth of its annual income. All the lakes/ponds of the Pilkhana and other property, including ‘Pushpita Simanta’, worth crores of taka were leased out in her name or fictitious names for 99 years.

(19) The cooks and sweepers of BDR are working at their [army officers] homes and residences of their relations. The BDR troopers have to clean all the streets of Pilkhana before dawn. They work at their [army officers] homes. Even the naik havildars are doing it regularly. The cooks are taken to prepare foods at functions at their relations’ homes.

(20) The soldiers generally receive lesser amount of ration. But the savings from the allocations for different messes are taken to the homes of army officers and their relations.

(21) The soldiers have to care for all the trees of the unit. But the fruits of the trees are sent to their [army officers] homes.

(22) No vehicles are purchased for the BDR troopers now. But expensive vehicles like Pajeros are bought, which are mostly used them [army officers] and their relations.

(23) The army officers living in Pilkhana must have quarters. But the BDR soldiers or officers are residing out of Pilkhana. After the beginning of the construction of a residential quarter for the soldiers near the farm, a plan was taken for a quarter for army officers. Although they are living in their quarter, not a single floor has been completed in the soldiers’ quarters.

(24)The soldiers are subjected to harassment over their leave. They are sent to the borders but have to take leave after coming back to the battalion, which is totally inhuman. BDR soldiers have to work on the borders but their families cannot live there. They are not even granted two months’ leave. We cannot enjoy recreation leave although employees in all organisations enjoy it [In 2001 Deshnetri Sheikh Hasina announced two months’ leave for BDR personnel after considering their problems. But the army officers stopped it through machinations].

(25)They [army officers] come to this organisation with a small trunk but leave with 2/3 trunks.
They carry out all the contractors’ jobs with their own people.

(26) Poor quality food is supplied to the BDR. If we protest, they threaten us with termination of our jobs.

(27) The posts designated for officers of BDR are not given properly. Although a few are made officers, they are not given ration/housing and other facilities. They are subjected to harassment.

(28) In all services and organisations special emphasis is given on education but in this organisation there no such system. Rather those who are a bit more educated, efforts are made to throw them out of it.

(29) If statistics of dismissals from different services and other organisations since the independence of the country are taken, it would be evident that dismissals from services without reason are rare in other organisations.

(30) More than 400 officers from the army deputed to the BDR consider its 46,000 members their slaves. An officer needs four to five people for cooking his food. Two [BDR men] are needed for work at the residences of their [Army officers] relations. They are treated like African slaves.

(31) In the case of problems on the borders, the Indian border guards generally have a meeting with an army officer in command [of the BDR troops.] It often turns out that the officer either leaves for a UN mission or is transferred elsewhere. This results in further complication of the problem.

(32) The army covertly makes sure that the BDR does not progress in sports (for example, when the army achieves successes in sports it gets good coverage but the BDR wins go almost unnoticed).

(33) The BDR athletes and sportsmen are kept heavily involved in administrative and other activities so that they cannot perform well.

(34) It is also made sure that the morales of BDR sportsmen and athletes are low. They are given minor awards for their achievements but at those occasions the arrangement for army officers makes it seem as if the prime minister is due to attend.

(35)The director general of the BDR has smuggled Tk 30 crore to his mother-in-law’s account in the United States.

(36) 22 army officers have embezzled Tk 2 crore of Operation Dal-Bhat through bank signatures of BDR personnel.

(37) Twenty-two army officers have also embezzled Tk 60 crore from the profits of Operation Dal-Bhat.

(38) A relative of the DG went missing with Tk 50 crore of Nur Mohammad Rifles Public School, but the matter was never investigated. [Former] director general Rezaqul Haider Chowdhury took away Tk 40 crore and that incident was not investigated either.

(39) It was only because of the greed of some army officers that rice worth Tk 18 per kilogram was sold at Tk 40 per kg, and cooking oil worth Tk 56 was sold at Tk 120 per kg through syndication at the cost of the people’s sufferings.

(40) Army officers receive 30 per cent extra allowance for being deputed to the BDR, which is sheer wastage of national resources.

(41) They do not want to do anything worthwhile for the BDR for it does not bring them [army officers] any benefits. Instead, they are concerned with the army’s interests.

(42) They use BDR carpenters and tailors for their personal requirements. They not only use BDR’s trees for furnishing their homes but even distribute the timber among their neighbours.

(43) Runners/drivers are kept busy even beyond the official duty hours. This results in high consumption of fuel (if it is needed to go a distance of 40 kilometres to buy a button, the army officers make them do that).

(44) Although there are a number of human rights organisations in the country, no one talks about our rights which are being violated all the time. (The army officers are careful not to give any hint of it).

(45) Those who are a little intelligent in the BDR, are sent to the mental ward on the BDR hospital’s third floor, which is used like a prison. The medical board there disqualifies the BDR men as unfit for service.

(46) The officers deputed to the BDR are mostly of low calibre with little hope for further promotion. So they run their charges at their whims.

(47) We are governed by military rules but our benefits are like those of the ansars/civilians.

(48) At combined drills and parades, the BDR contingent outperforms other forces all the time. But to undermine the BDR performance, they are trained by inefficient retired captains.

(49) The whole nation knows about the contribution of the BDR in the liberation of this country. But army officers appear to have become desperate to erase the name of this organisation from history.

(sorry could not find the last one)

 

[idune]

BD army is a professional army, they have been there even before BD was created and has served well, how come such unprofessional ism came up their way. If raising salary was the only issue, perhaps they should have realized that BD is a poor country and no one forced them to join the army, they did so on their own and if they think pay is not enough, perhaps better approach was to just resign and find a new job, why all the killing, a deed of few men have hit hard on the moral of the whole army and the way the world is going to see this. IMO mutineers should not be given a pardon, they have committed a serious crime and hence should be made an example so that next time people think twice before raising arms against their own.

When you infuse money and competition to make more money professional orientation takes back seat. And creates back door for foreign influence and instigation to creep in. That’s what happened with BD army by UN mission money and patronizing corruption by Moeen U and gang over last two years. Western interests have slowly and surely dismantled army from its supreme duty and have this institution run according to their command. Gen Moeen has admitted that in his recent book. When I said Bangladesh should withdraw from UN mission gradually some members were shocked. But that is what has to happen if we want to come of grip of external powers.

 

[qsaark]

salary was not the only issue bro... I think I should post their demands again for you...

Now what is wrong with these demands? Nothing, absolutely nothing. But again, rather difficult to go through undemocratic Pakistani minds (though exceptions are always there).

Note: This is a general comment and certainly not for IceCold.

 

[HK-47]

BDR Posts DESERTED in some districts dear God we are screwed big time people.well I guess they really want to implant their demands inside us very strongly.

 

[IceCold]

salary was not the only issue bro... I think I should post their demands again for you...

In a letter, they said that the 50 demands they were placing were among hundreds of problems they were facing. The 50 demands and grievances are:

(1) Recruiting officers for the BDR through BCS examinations for its modernisation, and withdrawing all officers of the army deputed to the BDR which a major demand of BDR soldiers.

(2) No steps have been taken, so far, to provide full rationing for the members of this 200-year old paramilitary force. There is neither any ration for its retired soldiers.

(3) Members of all forces and agencies, including the Ansars and VDP are being sent to UN peacekeeping missions but no step has been taken, so far, to send BDR personnel overseas.

(4) The pledges, made time and again in this regard, remain unfulfilled.
Steps have not been expedited to put an end to discrimination in salary structures and promotion procedures.

(5) BDR is being run by the Army’s black law. Punitive measures are been taken under the law of 1984.

(6) A policy has been formulated to punish and deprive educated and capable persons of promotion.

(7) It is only the BDR which is regularly facing war-like situation on the borders but the Army is enjoying the defence allowance sitting back in the barracks.

(8) The Army officers have sent many BDR soldiers home showing different excuses during the Operation Dal-Bhat. In fact, Army officers were responsible for the faults.

(9) The Army officers also have distributed among themselves the DA meant for the BDR soldiers.

(10) All the forces and agencies, except the BDR, had received allowances for duty during the parliamentary and upazila elections. There is a tug of war between the officers for share of the money.
(11) In the name of BDR welfare, retired army officers are running 18 shops in different parts of the capital. These shops do not have any BDR personnel.

(12)The vehicles bought in the name of BDR’s welfare are being used by the Army officers for their private purposes.

(13) The schools inside the BDR headquarters have only a few students from the BDR families. Most of the students are children of the Army officers and their relatives. It is unfortunate that being in the BDR we have to send our children to outside schools.

(14) Our children are not allowed to take admission to the BDR schools and the excuse is that they lack merit although the schools were built to help our children overcome their deficiency. [When the schools were built, we were told they were meant for our children and for that our predecessors gave their labour.]

(15) The wife of the present [BDR] DG was appointed to the post above the principal of the school. A teacher in name only she draws Taka 60,000 as honorarium per month without taking any class.

(16) There is a dairy farm inside the BDR and only a few people get its milk and eggs. The milk and eggs, given to the 50 members from the Army, are much more than that given to the 8,000 members of BDR.

(17) BDR members do not receive good treatment at the BDR hospital. Only their (army) parents and relatives and people from their villages receive treatment. The BDR members are supplied with cheaper medicines while army officers receive expensive drugs.

(18) The BDR Durbar Hall has been leased out to the wife of the present DG for an amount which is one-twentieth of its annual income. All the lakes/ponds of the Pilkhana and other property, including ‘Pushpita Simanta’, worth crores of taka were leased out in her name or fictitious names for 99 years.

(19) The cooks and sweepers of BDR are working at their [army officers] homes and residences of their relations. The BDR troopers have to clean all the streets of Pilkhana before dawn. They work at their [army officers] homes. Even the naik havildars are doing it regularly. The cooks are taken to prepare foods at functions at their relations’ homes.

(20) The soldiers generally receive lesser amount of ration. But the savings from the allocations for different messes are taken to the homes of army officers and their relations.

(21) The soldiers have to care for all the trees of the unit. But the fruits of the trees are sent to their [army officers] homes.

(22) No vehicles are purchased for the BDR troopers now. But expensive vehicles like Pajeros are bought, which are mostly used them [army officers] and their relations.

(23) The army officers living in Pilkhana must have quarters. But the BDR soldiers or officers are residing out of Pilkhana. After the beginning of the construction of a residential quarter for the soldiers near the farm, a plan was taken for a quarter for army officers. Although they are living in their quarter, not a single floor has been completed in the soldiers’ quarters.

(24)The soldiers are subjected to harassment over their leave. They are sent to the borders but have to take leave after coming back to the battalion, which is totally inhuman. BDR soldiers have to work on the borders but their families cannot live there. They are not even granted two months’ leave. We cannot enjoy recreation leave although employees in all organisations enjoy it [In 2001 Deshnetri Sheikh Hasina announced two months’ leave for BDR personnel after considering their problems. But the army officers stopped it through machinations].

(25)They [army officers] come to this organisation with a small trunk but leave with 2/3 trunks.
They carry out all the contractors’ jobs with their own people.

(26) Poor quality food is supplied to the BDR. If we protest, they threaten us with termination of our jobs.

(27) The posts designated for officers of BDR are not given properly. Although a few are made officers, they are not given ration/housing and other facilities. They are subjected to harassment.

(28) In all services and organisations special emphasis is given on education but in this organisation there no such system. Rather those who are a bit more educated, efforts are made to throw them out of it.

(29) If statistics of dismissals from different services and other organisations since the independence of the country are taken, it would be evident that dismissals from services without reason are rare in other organisations.

(30) More than 400 officers from the army deputed to the BDR consider its 46,000 members their slaves. An officer needs four to five people for cooking his food. Two [BDR men] are needed for work at the residences of their [Army officers] relations. They are treated like African slaves.

(31) In the case of problems on the borders, the Indian border guards generally have a meeting with an army officer in command [of the BDR troops.] It often turns out that the officer either leaves for a UN mission or is transferred elsewhere. This results in further complication of the problem.

(32) The army covertly makes sure that the BDR does not progress in sports (for example, when the army achieves successes in sports it gets good coverage but the BDR wins go almost unnoticed).

(33) The BDR athletes and sportsmen are kept heavily involved in administrative and other activities so that they cannot perform well.

(34) It is also made sure that the morales of BDR sportsmen and athletes are low. They are given minor awards for their achievements but at those occasions the arrangement for army officers makes it seem as if the prime minister is due to attend.

(35)The director general of the BDR has smuggled Tk 30 crore to his mother-in-law’s account in the United States.

(36) 22 army officers have embezzled Tk 2 crore of Operation Dal-Bhat through bank signatures of BDR personnel.

(37) Twenty-two army officers have also embezzled Tk 60 crore from the profits of Operation Dal-Bhat.

(38) A relative of the DG went missing with Tk 50 crore of Nur Mohammad Rifles Public School, but the matter was never investigated. [Former] director general Rezaqul Haider Chowdhury took away Tk 40 crore and that incident was not investigated either.

(39) It was only because of the greed of some army officers that rice worth Tk 18 per kilogram was sold at Tk 40 per kg, and cooking oil worth Tk 56 was sold at Tk 120 per kg through syndication at the cost of the people’s sufferings.

(40) Army officers receive 30 per cent extra allowance for being deputed to the BDR, which is sheer wastage of national resources.

(41) They do not want to do anything worthwhile for the BDR for it does not bring them [army officers] any benefits. Instead, they are concerned with the army’s interests.

(42) They use BDR carpenters and tailors for their personal requirements. They not only use BDR’s trees for furnishing their homes but even distribute the timber among their neighbours.

(43) Runners/drivers are kept busy even beyond the official duty hours. This results in high consumption of fuel (if it is needed to go a distance of 40 kilometres to buy a button, the army officers make them do that).

(44) Although there are a number of human rights organisations in the country, no one talks about our rights which are being violated all the time. (The army officers are careful not to give any hint of it).

(45) Those who are a little intelligent in the BDR, are sent to the mental ward on the BDR hospital’s third floor, which is used like a prison. The medical board there disqualifies the BDR men as unfit for service.

(46) The officers deputed to the BDR are mostly of low calibre with little hope for further promotion. So they run their charges at their whims.

(47) We are governed by military rules but our benefits are like those of the ansars/civilians.

(48) At combined drills and parades, the BDR contingent outperforms other forces all the time. But to undermine the BDR performance, they are trained by inefficient retired captains.

(49) The whole nation knows about the contribution of the BDR in the liberation of this country. But army officers appear to have become desperate to erase the name of this organisation from history.

(sorry could not find the last one)

Look whatever may be the reason, i just highlighted one, still it does not justify the killing of superiors in the army and moreover their families. This kind of thing happens in a militia type of an army and BD army is far from it. Moreover like i said if they think for any of the above mentioned reason that things are unjust, perhaps they always had the option to resign, why take up arms against the state. If this kind of criminal act is not made an example next time more people will take up arms upon the non acceptance of their demands. How far do you think, things will go then.
These are my 2 cents for what it is worth over the issue.

 

[leonblack08]

Please do tell us, how did India gained out of this self-inflicted embarrassing events happened in BD.

If PM Hasina refuse to modernise BDR with new equipment after this incident,then India will be a gainer.
Anyways,its still out of question and lets wait for investigation to start.

This incidence in one sense is good for the army.It will send a strong warning to our Generals,that you can't be so rich while we are suffering.This might lead to a major shake up of the system,which is needed.
When army enters in civilian administration,they are bound to be corrupt.And that's what happened last two years.They must realise,that their job is to protect the country not to run the country.

Now COAS should be sent to retire,and corrupted officers should be court martialed,if possible COAS too if he is found corrupt.

Its just because of few army officers the whole organisation has lost its pride.Because I know,more than 90% of our top ranking officers are patriot.Its that 10% which ruins everything.

 

[leonblack08]

Look whatever may be the reason, i just highlighted one, still it does not justify the killing of superiors in the army and moreover their families. This kind of thing happens in a militia type of an army and BD army is far from it. Moreover like i said if they think for any of the above mentioned reason that things are unjust, perhaps they always had the option to resign, why take up arms against the state. If this kind of criminal act is not made an example next time more people will take up arms upon the non acceptance of their demands. How far do you think, things will go then.
These are my 2 cents for what it is worth over the issue.

You are right.Whatever the reason was their action was not justified at all.

 

[idune]

There are some report (not verified) that some BDR members came out of Pilkhana and shot by RAB. Hope this is not the case.

 

[leonblack08]

33 BDR jawans held
Star Online Report

The Army and Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) held 33 members of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) from two different spots, a private television channel reports.

The BDR members were trying to flee, according to the report.

The Daily Star - Details News


They probably got scared at the sight of army tanks and tried to flee the HQ.
RAB got them.Channel 1 was reporting 42 BDR jawans.

 

[IceCold]

Now what is wrong with these demands? Nothing, absolutely nothing. But again, rather difficult to go through undemocratic Pakistani minds (though exceptions are always there).

Note: This is a general comment and certainly not for IceCold.

Really! well i don't care who it is meant for or even if it was meant for me however let me put it through your democratic mind:
Since you are talking about us being undemocratic, where in the hell does anything like this what happened falls under the definition of democracy or being democratic? Is this what you call being a democratic mind, then we are better off being undemocratic.
As for the demands just or unjust, there is always a better way to put them forward, not by taking up arms against the state and by trying to hold the state a hostage or its institutions a hostage. I am surprised by many here including many BD posters defending this outrageous act. Simply amazing and astonishing.