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FOREIGN MILITARY INTERVENTION LIKELY?
Intelligence failure caused BDR disaster
M. Shahidul Islam
Every crisis must traverse a slotted path to come to its end. The BDR mutiny of February 25 was just the beginning of a major crisis that has long way to cross the finishing line.
That is why the carnage and the genocide of February 25 have begun to alter the internal political dynamics of the country while the prospect of foreign military intervention remains as vibrant as it was on February 25.
Threat to sovereignty
The Hindustan Times reported on March 2 that the crisis in Bangladesh had put on alert the armed forces of India who remain stand by for what they said 'humanitarian intervention' inside Bangladesh.
The paper claimed, since the day of the BDR mutiny, Indian Air Force (IAF) transport bases - equipped with IL-76 heavy-lift and AN-32 medium-lift aircrafts- were asked to stay prepared to assist the Bangladesh government, if requested by Dhaka. Quoting an unnamed senior IAF officer, the paper claimed that the largest Indian airbase located in Jorhat, Assam, - which is also the closest one to Bangladesh- stands ready to conduct such a mission...[ FULL STORY ]
Unravellingthe carnage
Hafiz Shamsheer
Already 10 days into the nation's gravest crisis, the gloom of the 25 February's senseless holocaust continues to drape the nation. The air is still stuffed with the stench of the bodies of those felled by rebellious bullets. The atmosphere still reverberates with the wails and weeps of wives, sons, daughters, parents and kinsmen who lost their loved ones.
The solitary saving grace is that the toll of total death is slightly less than was feared. A total of 58 persons have been identified and buried. Only six officers, not 72, are still rated as missing. It is however suspected that they could be among the bodies still to be identified. Military authorities have invited their family members to report for DNA tests...[ FULL STORY ]
Why intelligence failure?
Special Correspondent
More facts are coming out every day revealing the failures of our intelligence agencies in connection with the carnage of February 25 - 26 at the BDR headquarters in the capital of Bangladesh.
Interestingly, the chief of Military Intelligence (MI) appeared before the media without telling anything about why their men failed in tracing anything ahead of the massacre.
The MI always remains vigil on the institution like BDR which is commanded by the army officials. DGFI also does the same as it is responsible to ensure the safety and security of the head of state and the prime minister...[ FULL STORY ]
Mujib-Kissinger talks 1974
The classified document of Mujib-Kissinger talks, held in 1974, released by the US State Department on 14 February this year, appears on page 6...[ FULL STORY ]
Peelkhana Massacre: Viewed from Dhaka Cantonment
Sadeq Khan
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...[ FULL STORY ]
Aftershock marred by contradictions, confusion
Special Correspondent
The nation is passing a crucial time and is yet to recover from the aftershock of the Peelkhana killings. However, contradictory statements are being made and confusing information is being aired when different probe bodies started to find the causes of the massacre at BDR Headquarters.
In its effort to restore command and reorganize the border guarding force, the government has already appointed a new Director General (DG) for BDR and got back more than five thousand BDR personnel who fled away following the mutiny of February 25-26.
On Saturday last week, as emotions ran high among the ranks after the massacre by the mutineers, the military intelligence chief Brig Gen Mahmud Hossain said 72 were still missing, 63 were dead and 33 officers were found alive...[ FULL STORY ]
Maritime boundary: Bangladesh should lodge protest
Faruque Ahmed
The country's territorial waters up to the 350 nautical miles continental shelf are becoming the centre of growing contest from two of her neighbours such as India and Myanmar. Their claims appear highly wishful and partly hegemonistic at a time when Bangladesh lost valuable time over the past two decades to determine its sea line for exploiting its resources. Both fishery and mineral resources including gas and oil in the country's exclusive economic zone have growing importance now with expansion of population and growing demand on resources, experts say...[ FULL STORY ]
STRANGERS INSIDE B.D.R. H.Q.?
Peelkhana massacre puzzles the nation
Amanullah Kabir
Perhaps modern horror films are no match to the Peelkhana carnage. In an unprecedented incident 68 brilliant army officers from major general down to captain were shot dead in hours-long killing spree. It was nothing short of a mutiny in a section of the armed forces by an unruly group of its members.
When the killing spree was going on inside the BDR headquarters, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina invited a group of their representatives to her official residence in the evening of the fateful day and negotiated a deal with them, some of whom were said to be still wearing mask, for about long two hours. Escorted by ruling Awami League leaders, including a state minister and a whip, the mutineers were thus virtually given government recognition as a party in the horror drama. Not only that, she offered them unconditional general amnesty, allowing them the political leverage to continue their unlawful and anarchic activities. As a result, the mutiny that broke out on Wednesday morning through indiscriminate killing of officers, including BDR chief Major General Shakil Ahmed, went on for 36 hours when the Prime Minister felt the urgency to appear on the TV screen with the delayed threat to the culprits to surrender or get crushed...[ FULL STORY ]
LDA PROTEST INDO-US DESIGN
Govt. asked to protect national interest
Special Correspondent
The 10-party left democratic alliance (LDA) expressed concern over the mutiny at the Peelkhana BDR Headquarters and squarely held the Army Chief responsible for the command and intelligence failure.
The LDA central committee meeting on Wednesday condemned the killings of the army officers at BDR Headquarters and observed that only a fair investigation may detect the design of the evil forces who worked against our national security.
The alliance opposed the involvement of foreign agencies like FBI in the investigation and asked the government to remain alert against Indo-US design and remain firm to protect the interest of the nation and its sovereignty...[ FULL STORY ]
GLIMPSES OF THE GREAT
Duke of Wellington
K. Z. Islam
Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington (1769-1852) is a delight to read and write about because, though a hero, he was devoid about pomposity and punctuated his long career with pungent and pithy remark which cast brief flashes of intense light on himself and his time. It is a pity he never wrote an autobiography, for his dispatches, clear, orderly, always to the point show he was a born writer...[ FULL STORY ]
DEMAND FOR KILLERS' MILITARY TRIAL
'Revenge for Padua defeat in 2001'
Abdur Rahman Khan
The planned killings at the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) headquarters at Peelkhana were a conspiracy to weaken Bangladesh's defence capability and the border security. This was carried out as a delayed retaliation against Padua defeat of 2001.
The hostile forces that want to see Bangladesh as a failed state and also want to grab military foothold in Bangladesh in the name of task force or peacekeeping force are behind the conspiracy, says Major General (rtd) Fazlur Rahman, a former chief of the BDR...[ FULL STORY ]
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