Pilkhana carnage benefited enemies: BDR DG

BDR DG Maj Gen Moinul Islam addressing the first Darbar after the BDR mutiny at the Darbar Hall on Monday.
Photo: bdnews24.com

BSS, Dhaka

Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) chief Major General Mainul Islam Monday said "foreign enemies" benefited from the February 25- 26 carnage in the paramilitary force as President Zillur Rahman sought the apex court's suggestion to fix the trial mode for mutineers.
"Bangladesh is not enemy-free in the international arena. The country has its foes and they gained from the mutiny," Islam told the first ever "darbar" or meeting with ordinary BDR soldiers at their Pilkhana headquarters after the February massacre.
This was the scene of the rebellion when 57 army officers serving the border force were killed.
The BDR chief, however, refrained from naming any enemy but added that "external enemies still exist and we must be aware of them" referring to the 1971 attack on BDR troops by Pakistani occupation army.
"Someone must have benefited from the Pilkhana massacre but BDR suffered the loss," he said as over 2,000 BDR soldiers joined the meeting at the Darbar Hall, the venue where the mutiny broke out during an identical darbar. Islam's predecessor Major General Shakil Ahmed and 55 military officers serving the paramilitary force on deputation were killed at the venue during an identical darbar on February 25 when the rebellious soldiers carried out the carnage protesting what they claimed "deprivation" and lack of service facilities.
BDR authorities invited the media to witness the darbar while Islam yesterday told BSS that it was part of their efforts to restore the morale of the paramilitary border guards, which was heavily shuddered after the carnage.