BDR mutiny rocks Dhaka

[bujhee kom]

This is indeed of a very serious concern!

[ammark]

Originally Posted by djnaved
gov't is 100% involved ..........

feb-june= still no result..........so gov't is 100% involved......and guess what maybe sheikh hasina is in danger now.......shenabahini is gonna take revenge for sure against this gov't

I feel the complete opposite actually. The mid-ranking army officers right now is extremely demoralised and frustrated with how things are progressing. They are ready to leave their jobs. In the top level there is a huge amount of intrigues going on as well with the govt chasing many senior officers. Our defence forces' backs are quite broken right now I feel.

[nsd3]

The winner seems to be the govt then. If the Army is full of such issues they are the loser. Someone was saying that shenabahini would take revenge....how would that be possible if they themselves lose morale and run after each other?

[WarWolf]

Finally the mastermind has own.

[yaseer]

Originally Posted by ammark
I feel the complete opposite actually. The mid-ranking army officers right now is extremely demoralised and frustrated with how things are progressing. They are ready to leave their jobs. In the top level there is a huge amount of intrigues going on as well with the govt chasing many senior officers. Our defence forces' backs are quite broken right now I feel.

Yes, whoever was behind this.....their main aim was to weaken the Army and they are successful in doing so.

The Group/party/people who are beneficiary of this Mutiny are behind this.
Who are the Main Beneficiary group from this Mutiny?? We need to find out this answer.

[Shubho]

Since everyone is posting conjecture and not fact, I shall join the bandwagon too:

Rajakars are behind this. 100%. No doubt in my mind. Pakistan's ISI is giving them intelligence. The Middle East is funding them. Our country is being Talibanized. 100%. This is the beginning of the end for Bangladesh as we know her.

[Rabz]

The documents are indeed very "juicy"!!!
Gives rise to more questions than answers!!

I am not an expert on this field, but to me, those documents on pdf 2 of the link looks pretty naive to me.

1. If this is an official report, i found no symbol/logo to identify the Inquering body.
2. What is that picture on top left corner of page 1 and 3?
3. No page numbers on those leaked pages???? I'd think official govt inquiry report would atleast have page numbers on them. But then again, i have never seen any official govt inquiry report myself.

4. ( and most importantly) The date on the first page says 2/25, meaning 25th of February.
Now, thats puzzling to me.

We, Bangladeshis, do not use that style of writing dates. Our style would have been 25/2.
When i write dates, i do automaticly write 25/2 not the other way around. Its inbuilt in me.
My subconscious mind takes care of that little part and i just do what i'm habituated to do.

If somebody wrote 2/25, to me, it seems they wrote that out of habit too. I find it hard to believe that anybody who grow up in Bangladesh or works in this system, would just write in that other style.

So, does somebody from overseas happen to have written that document???

I can not rule out the possibility of them being authentic, but at the same time, i feel like even i could have made that up.

[Tigers_eye]

Originally Posted by Ehsan
...When this happened I had the feeling this was an act committed by political parties together with the gov't. They wanted revenge, that's what I thought.

And some businessmen who could not do drug trafficing (illegal stuff) etc. or got hit hard in their pocket books by the RAB officers plus foreign masterminds. Without Govt. and Army involvement how can most of the RAB officiers get trasferred to BDR?

[cricket_pagol]

Originally Posted by Rabz
The documents are indeed very "juicy"!!!
Gives rise to more questions than answers!!

I am not an expert on this field, but to me, those documents on pdf 2 of the link looks pretty naive to me.

1. If this is an official report, i found no symbol/logo to identify the Inquering body.
2. What is that picture on top left corner of page 1 and 3?
3. No page numbers on those leaked pages???? I'd think official govt inquiry report would atleast have page numbers on them. But then again, i have never seen any official govt inquiry report myself.

4. ( and most importantly) The date on the first page says 2/25, meaning 25th of February.
Now, thats puzzling to me.

We, Bangladeshis, do not use that style of writing dates. Our style would have been 25/2.
When i write dates, i do automaticly write 25/2 not the other way around. Its inbuilt in me.
My subconscious mind takes care of that little part and i just do what i'm habituated to do.

If somebody wrote 2/25, to me, it seems they wrote that out of habit too. I find it hard to believe that anybody who grow up in Bangladesh or works in this system, would just write in that other style.

So, does somebody from overseas happen to have written that document???

I can not rule out the possibility of them being authentic, but at the same time, i feel like even i could have made that up.

since, the dates are written in words on the first page, it is hard to argue one way or the other. Also, the first page was added later... so, it could very well be added by someone living outside BD.

But, the judging by the quality of the report and the lack of typos or spelling mistake... this document deserves careful reading.

PS: I forwarded this report to a friend, he found a lot of typos, spelling mistake and grammatical mistake.

[Sauron]

http://www.amadershomoy.com/content/...4/news0041.htm

Btw, why is this not sticky anymore? Wrong decision to let this thread tavel down.

[Sohel]

Hindsight is always 20/20 and passionate, emotion driven speculation of “what-could-have-beens”, alongside freshly swallowed and then regurgitated conspiracy theories, is an integral part of our psyche and its alleged thought process. We do this well irrespective of our station in life, profession and severity of the particular delusion of grandeur and its almost obligatory political affiliation.

I will try not to speculate too much about what could have happened if a rescue and counter measures operation was allowed go forward as mandated by military law with regards to mutiny involving its personnel. I’ll try to stick to the facts as they continue to emerge.

Facts: unarmed officers under attack did call and SMS for help. They strongly felt that this was a massacre in progress, yet everyone, including the political leadership and the media took this as a "just and noble demands for hostages" situation before assessing the facts. That, in retrospect, was immeasurably costly to families of everyone murdered, the defense fraternity and the nation as a whole.

Maybe it would been a by-the-book operation with those directly responsible being comprehensively outclassed and either killed in action or brought to justice or both. Or maybe it would have resulted in more bloodshed, who knows? I'm glad the settlement was a negotiated one because no matter how I choose to speculate myself, it is often better to err on the side of caution when lives are at stake. Remember that gunshots coming out of the BDR compound were erratic and put civilians in the highly congested area in harms way from the onset of the event.

I don't have a problem with the negotiated settlement, somehow being weirdly and annoyingly touted as a "political settlement", but have serious issues with the quality of the negotiation and the role and nature of Bangladeshi politics when it comes to specialized matters such as hostage negotiations.

One must also remember that during those early hours, the media as well as many people from all walks of life took the mutineers who later turned out to be murders, and their so called demands at face value. Quite a few politicians from both parties, blinded by their desire for payback, were a part of the process. The murderers banked and subsequently gambled on the politically hip anti-Army bias and it paid off.

The role of the Army during the previous Caretaker Government’s anti-corruption drive, in spite of the areas where it fell well short of necessity and expectation, was an unprecedented slap on the wrist for one of most stagnating elements of the Bangladeshi "system", and put them in an adversarial position vis-à-vis all corrupt politicians and their cronies everywhere.

Cronies, from thugs masquerading as “political activists” and politically motivated reporters, to political leaders, to respectable members of the so called civil society who benefited from the unmitigated and ever increasing culture of corruption before 1/11, irrespective of party affiliation, added considerable fuel to the fire. Together, they cooked up a general, almost spontaneous frenzy of malicious, and unsubstantiated innuendos about our Army as soon as they had the chance. Others also chimed in with gusto, perhaps inadvertently blamed them for not fulfilling the often elitist and anti-democratic expectations in their minds, and carried that questionable attitude and motivation into the Massacre itself.

Then the bodies were discovered, and the awful truth began to surface before a coordinated expiation and love fest of sorts hit the airwaves with almost equal pomp and feigned passion as a shocked nation mourned for the departed. Disgusting yet totally predictable.

We are Bangladeshis of many different, deeply interlinked cultures. It is not just we in the dominant Bengali ethnicity who tend to habitually choose apparent peace and avoid direct confrontation and violence, but we share this trait with most of our non-Bengali Bangladeshi compatriots as well. The sheer brutality of the truth breaks our hearts and makes us wonder and introspect. This collective experience must not be forgotten, trivialized and used for narrow political gain. Those who choose to do this with our national trauma will only dig themselves deeper into a hole they cannot claw out of for too long.

Our voters are maturing and the mandate they’ve handed to their representatives, including the mandate to establish the rule of law, cannot be winked away and two-stepped across borrowed time for too long. There is no alternative to transparency and the truth.

Skip back to the event. What we knew initially.

Mutiny, the taking of hostages, and putting people in harms way by firing weapons are crimes. The anti-Army bias came to light in the middle of this crime when our honorable Home Minister and State Minister for LGRD, neither individuals trained in hostage negotiations, were given the job of appeasing the criminals. They never asked for "proof of life" or demanded to see the hostages before eagerly capitulating to some their demands, including relaxing the Army's cordon surrounding the compound. This clearly enabled the criminals to flee after the honorable Prime Minister gave them the ultimatum. It is highly unlikely that these men would have resisted Army action with any degree of effectiveness, but that's a futile thought easy to digress into, and I would not go there. What's the point?

The real point for me is as follows with regards to the events themselves: -

During the negotiations, why did the government not ask for proof of life before relaxing the Army's cordon as demanded?

As I said before, it is unlikely that the politicians involved in negotiations were professionals trained in counter terrorism protocol including hostage situations. Then why were the sent to do the specialized job individuals in RAB have been trained to do? I doubt that the honorable ministers, so gleeful at their “success” and diligent in their ritual adulation of their Mistress the honorable Prime Minister during every other utterance, they even watched a hostage situation movie where asking for “proof of life” is “common sensical” and quite standard.

The honorable Home Minister, while demonstrating how to handle her sari like a fisherman’s sarong, was comprehensively hoodwinked and her cognitive lethargy, incompetence and ineptitude as they relate to the matter became painfully exposed. Known more for her skills as a street agitator than her intelligence or ability as an advocate, she claimed some of hostages were safe when they in fact were brutally murdered, unarmed. She claimed “the weapons were secured” and she had “the key in her possession” when looted weapons are still being recovered form all corners of the country.

The honorable Home Minister and State Minister for LGRD, through their cavalier disregard for the Army Officers’ lives did their part embarrassing the new government and that should be looked into by the proper authorities. This way, the Prime Minister will not only recover some of her political equity, but also have the opportunity to establish protocols so that professionals handle such matters if they are to occur in the future. We pray that they never do.

I am behind the Prime Minister in the spirit of national unity but she must dispose of the ministers who made her look like a fool as the initial step. Then she will have the opportunity to transcend party politics and become the Prime Minister we all desperately hope she needs to and can become.

As one ordinary vote among millions, I cannot vote for the other woman because of her affiliation with unprecedented corruption, nepotism and most importantly, Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh. A matter of lesser of two evils at this point. But the PM needs to do the right thing, not just do better in comparison.

Anyway, now let us look at the crime itself. All of the published facts strongly suggest it was a carefully planned, financed and orchestrated by a group of murderers, quite a few from BDR's own intelligence cells, in order to: 1) destroy the recent command structure of BDR swiftly, efficiently and as brutally as possible, 2) shock and provoke the Army into violent and rogue reaction in the aftermath of this unprecedented brutality, and consequently 3) destabilizing the country and its democratic political process.

That said, we ought to look into who benefits the most from this.

There are corrupt individuals within BDR and their BSF counterparts across the border. These men are long term, career para military soldiers who deal with rotational commanders at all levels from the Army the best way they know how. Either by trying to bring them into the game, or trying to ride out their command. They are organized and engaged in a multimillion dollar human, narcotics, firearms, and contraband trafficking industry. Last two plus years of the caretaker have been particularly difficult for them. Clearly they and all organized crime directly benefiting from these transactions, including "political" criminals and terrorists directly benefit from the massacre. This buys them valuable time to try and recover some of their lost profits, and set up a new modus operandi to resume business as usual in and around our border areas.

What the government needs to do is focused on the financing of the massacre, and the NGOs and financial institutions used to launder the money before it reached the murders, and connect the dots accordingly. The government must make all findings transparent and conduct further investigations if necessary. Nobody, irrespective of party affiliation, must be allowed to get away with their indiscretion.

Politically, no party as a whole could benefit more from this than Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh and their Wahabi allies across the spectrum of sectarian politics, from the murderers and outlaws of JMB to Hizbut Tahrir activists focused upon recruiting and programming the often self loathing and ingrate English medium elite of our country. No matter what sort of plausible deniability they maintain about the alliance, or what sort of powerful political and financial backing they continue to receive from certain Saudi and Gulf State(s) families, the connection exists on a variety of carefully coordinated levels to undermine our democratic process and the collective voice of increasingly sophisticated Bangladeshi voters. The entire JMB leadership held top leadership posts with Jamaat, and those familiar with Jamaat's careful recruitment and training process before membership is granted, should know that membership in that organization, especially from the "Shathi" level and beyond, is for life.

One can hardly blame them because through the electoral process alone, they have zero hope of attaining and exercising political power to establish there goal. Therefore, all alternate routes, legal and illegal, are at play.

The massacre and the expected chaotic and violent sequence of events that never ensued, thanks largely to the professionalism of the Army, would have shifted national focus from the popularly mandated trial of 1971 war criminals in their leadership, while discrediting the current government trusted to bring those men to justice. Such a calculated "emergency" situation would also have created a more forgiving "greater national unity" environment which in turn, would mitigate some of the unifying hostility against their ideology and buy them time to reconstruct their deceptive message. As if that would have made a difference in a country where that ideology is contrary to our deeply rooted cultural and Constitutional values of tolerance and equal treatment under the law.

The Bangladeshi people, as devout as we are, have continued to reject Islamic politics at the polls with increased enthusiasm despite their loud voices and considerable investment through a variety of KSA and Gulf State(s) based money laundering operations. Getting only 2 out of 300 seats in one of the largest Muslim countries in terms of population speaks volumes about our traditional and comprehensive rejection of the idea that one can speak for GOD as de facto intermediaries between GOD and individual salvation, and declare him/herself the master of GOD's truth, or compel and coerce others into their particular world view in a religion where "there is no compulsion" and submission to GOD is "willful".

GOD is "As-Samad", independent of all things as all things are depended on Him. There is an absolute separation between the divine and things other than divine, including the human consciousness of divinity itself, no matter how scholarly that consciousness may be or how deeply rooted in the centuries of normative Islamic scholarship it may be seen to exist. Islam is in our hearts and our actions, no matter how flawed our everyday intent and actions may be. Islam can help us build a strong moral foundation and establish our covenant with GOD as individuals. That way, it can also inspire a politics of righteousness, peace and justice for all without doing divisive politics in GOD’s name. GOD knows all and will inevitably judge all, and all such judgment is better left to GOD alone. Our people know this in their hearts, and that is why the Sufi tradition and spiritual icons such as Lalon Shah, rather than Ibn-Taimiyah, Ibn Wahab, Sayyid Qutb or Maulana Maududi, speak for us.

We do not need bitter, purely reactionary, intellectually dishonest and vain in their "anti-vanity", and self satisfied revisionists to "convolute" the message of the Quran, subvert its unique role as “Al Furqan” or the “fully detailed” criterion revealed for all of mankind, not just scholars, reinvent the wheel, and politically impose that evil in GOD’s name.

The ability to somewhat intelligently misinterpret and articulate things should never be charming enough to fool and sway us from righteousness. A fundamental message of WILLFUL submission, sincere cultivation of kindness and piety, and peace and justice for all of GOD's creations, irrespective how we choose to classify and divide ourselves as human beings, and in the process, seek common ground while celebrate the blessed diversity GOD has graced our lives with.

Having said all this, I have immense faith in our voters and do not oppose their continued presence in the political process, even as dissenters who do not believe in our Constitution and do not accord others the basic rights it accords them as citizens, as long as they do not violate the law, and in light of their abject political failures, resort to subversive measures to render our laws useless and inadequate. If and when a comprehensive investigation into the tragedy unmasks all involved, no matter how powerful, connected or financially important some of their international backers may be, we expect nothing less than total transparency and accountability this time. Subverting the law for the sake of political expediency does not establish the rule of law. Like overt lawlessness, irrespective of the excuses at hand, it weakens the law, stagnates the democratic process, and retards our evolution as a functional and sustainable democracy.

[PoorFan]

Excellent write Sohel_NR, I wish you try to put it [ BDR mutiny analysis part] on Daily star or likes. These type of unbiased personal opinion and effort should maximize to public. More voice makes more awareness and thats what we need.

[bujhee kom]

Thank you my dearest Sohel bhaiya! Very well painted.

[Rabz]

Sohel bhai, thats one hell of a post.
Very deep, and as always, very well written.

You talk from a very purist point of view, but i wonder, if we ever get to see the truth of this incident that dented us all.

I dont think our political infrastructure is that strong enough.

[auntu]

Wow ! Sohel bhai great work. I wish I could write like you...

[mahbubH]

well written Sohel.. will read again .

[Tigers_eye]

As'salamu alaikum Sohel bhai,
I read your well written post. As always very thoughtful. There are some disagreement.

1) Any time there is a hostage situation especially armed force officer are the hostages, no matter which country it is, there would a rescue operation. Even to get the unmutilated dead bodies. Now the unknown factor of mutiny's strength and firearm capability, with civilians inside and outside at harms way, the tactics had to be unconfrontational. Meaning 5-10 commando infiltration even with BDR uniforms. I personally know some commando officers who are as equal as (in terms of capability) any other country can offer, including the Navy seals in US. Besides saving officers tactfully, assessing situation, securing guards room, armory and relaying back to the awaiting army that would have been their primary task. Pakistani Army was shocked to know Alam, Badals were Mukti bahini. They hesitated several times to put a price on their head. Finally 200,000 taka reward was announced. That was done when they were long gone to Agartala. Inflitrating into enemy ranks and getting information is nothing new in BD history. Pilkhana was easily penetrable during the first few hours. Saving one officer's life is better what we had "none". I am not an Army officer. Yes, staying in west for the past 18 years has allowed me to see many hostage negociations very closely. But telling me that Army officers would not think like me is unacceptable. Army chief Moin U. and his high ranked officers failed to save their own men. They have blood in their hand directly or undirectly. This will come back and bite them one way or another.

2) During the Home minister rescue operation at night telecasted all over the place, police went in and took charge of some area. At that time, I was so sure that those were ARMY under police gear. Bafoons didn't even do that (I am name calling cause my blood is boiling now).

3) To understand the message better I have a question. From the organized and engaged in a multimillion dollar human, narcotics, firearms, and contraband trafficking industry few businessmen and politicians (both parties) are getting benefited. Very much understandable. So how do you link Jamati Islami, JMB, Hizbut Tahir etc. groups with the politicians and corrupt businessmen? Are you saying these businessmen and politicians who do these henious crimes belong to Jamat, JMB groups? Or they are disguising themselves and has infiltrated to Awami league and BNP?

4) Our voters may be maturing. I have no doubt that with education level increasing they will choose the right person in future. But if you by any means suggesting that the last election was free and fair, I would only point out that 92% voters voted in the past election. Never happened in US or any other so called first world country, ever.

Salaam.

[Sohel]

Originally Posted by Tigers_eye
As'salamu alaikum Sohel bhai,
I read your well written post. As always very thoughtful. There are some disagreement.

1) Any time there is a hostage situation especially armed force officer are the hostages, no matter which country it is, there would a rescue operation. Even to get the unmutilated dead bodies. Now the unknown factor of mutiny's strength and firearm capability, with civilians inside and outside at harms way, the tactics had to be unconfrontational. Meaning 5-10 commando infiltration even with BDR uniforms. I personally know some commando officers who are as equal as (in terms of capability) any other country can offer, including the Navy seals in US. Besides saving officers tactfully, assessing situation, securing guards room, armory and relaying back to the awaiting army that would have been their primary task. Pakistani Army was shocked to know Alam, Badals were Mukti bahini. They hesitated several times to put a price on their head. Finally 200,000 taka reward was announced. That was done when they were long gone to Agartala. Inflitrating into enemy ranks and getting information is nothing new in BD history. Pilkhana was easily penetrable during the first few hours. Saving one officer's life is better what we had "none". I am not an Army officer. Yes, staying in west for the past 18 years has allowed me to see many hostage negociations very closely. But telling me that Army officers would not think like me is unacceptable. Army chief Moin U. and his high ranked officers failed to save their own men. They have blood in their hand directly or undirectly. This will come back and bite them one way or another.

Walaikum as salam Mijan. First of all, this situation, from the standpoint of actual military context and subsequent tactics, does not compare in any way to the activities of our uncles back in 1971, without resorting to reductionist speculation. The BDR barracks are in the middle of a densely populated area and the terrorists were randomly firing over the walls from their positions. The media was there in full force and local residents were terrified. An unprepared, popularly elected political government had to deal with that situation. They opted to go for negotiations and played right into the hands of the terrorists NOT because of the idea of negotiations, but the quality thereof. The unacceptable quality of the negotiations by incompetent fools made matters worse. They never asked for proof of life before readily capitulating to their demands.

Now had I been the Army chief, I would have moved in right away, coordinating my efforts with specially trained RAB units until Army Commandos, I have the Ferocious Fourteen guys in mind here, arrived in the scene. The Army Chief or ANY Army unit for that matter, didn't need permission to put down a mutiny involving Army officers. They do not anywhere in the world because Military CoC compels you to put down mutinies in whatever capacity possible. If you do not, you're considered a mutineer yourself!

I am fully aware of the counter insurgency and counter terrorism capabilities of our forces on a variety of different levels. I had the privilege of working with Colonel Gulzar (RIP) on a few projects before he was sent to BDR to address a series of issues. The BDR guys were no match for these guys who in addition to local training, also receive training from Fort Benning and China. Most of the units are battle hardened and highly decorated because of their heroism in the CHT conflict and the first Gulf War. They have also participated in operations nobody is at liberty to discuss had those operations, in theory, were to have taken place.

They are an essential part of our National Defense Strategy to arm, train and lead the general population in case of a foreign invasion. No foreign force, especially a poor country like India, can sustain an occupation facing a ceaseless, popular and specially thought out insurgency for national liberation.

These guys are world class. That's precisely why when the terrorists sensed imminent threat of confrontation, they fled, the withdrawal of the Army cordon allowing them to do so.

But as a popularly elected representative, my priority would have been to minimize bloodshed through negotiation, in light of all the available information amidst total surprise and chaos. Sadly, what happened was closer to appeasement. The difference turned out to be lethal.

Moin Bhai didn't do the right thing and it cost him his PR equity within the defense fraternity and more. In my post, as I clearly stated in the beginning and then later, I wanted of focus on what happened and not what "should have" happened.

But that's all after the event stuff. I'm glad that more lives were not lost. Whether they were bluffing or not, in retrospect, is futile to ponder and serves no purpose.

2) During the Home minister rescue operation at night telecasted all over the place, police went in and took charge of some area. At that time, I was so sure that those were ARMY under police gear. Bafoons didn't even do that (I am name calling cause my blood is boiling now).

The Army was withdrawn as per the successful demand of the terrorists but some RAB units, on their own, stayed put and captured some of the fugitives fleeing the crime scene.

3) To understand the message better I have a question. From the organized and engaged in a multimillion dollar human, narcotics, firearms, and contraband trafficking industry few businessmen and politicians (both parties) are getting benefited. Very much understandable. So how do you link Jamati Islami, JMB, Hizbut Tahir etc. groups with the politicians and corrupt businessmen? Are you saying these businessmen and politicians who do these henious crimes belong to Jamat, JMB groups? Or they are disguising themselves and has infiltrated to Awami league and BNP?

Arms smuggling, bringing in foreign terrorists and criminals, running terrorist camps along the border and even using narcotics to raise funds is an integral part of the way they do business, as continually revealed by captured terrorists, all of them affiliated with Jamaat and Shibir as "former" mid to high level leaders.

Criminals involved in illicit trade, dons like Daud Ibrahim for example, also have close ties with terrorist groups like LIT. Groups that have ties to the Taliban and their heroin trade, and Jamaat-i-Islami in South Asia. They are actively supported by powerful and wealthy ruling Wahabi families from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States. Hizbut Tahrir has been set up to develop leaders, including fringe leaders, for this global, multifaceted, cellular movement. Deception is their bread and butter. Not surprising, quite a few of these foreign nationals have been arrested in our territory after being well hidden, some with legitimate Bangladeshi passports and identities. That does not, cannot happen without high level infiltration.

Infiltration has been a part of their well coordinated strategy since day 1. It includes every sector of our national life. Politically, they actually formed an alliance with the ruling and became ministers before 1/11. Imagine the advantages and unmitigated growth. Again confirmed by a wide variety of facts in light of their terrorist activities ever since the consolidation of the alliance. The case of Bangla Bhai being the most glaring example.

They launder money through a variety of "Islamic" NGOs and financial institutions and amoral folks from all political parties and sectors get their cut. The point in my post was to track down the huge sum of money reportedly paid to the core group.

4) Our voters may be maturing. I have no doubt that with education level increasing they will choose the right person in future. But if you by any means suggesting that the last election was free and fair, I would only point out that 92% voters voted in the past election. Never happened in US or any other so called first world country, ever.

Salaam.

Our voters vote for people nominated and that happens by selection. They also tend to "vote against" more than "vote for" things and people. But increasingly, our voters are demanding better candidates rooted to the day to day life in their respective constituencies and that will take time. We need grassroots politics composed of community activists rather than loafers and thugs calling themselves "political activists". We must think process, not event.

Peace~

[Sohel]

PS: The situation was indeed a "mutiny" situation, NOT a "rescue" one at the time. Although communication to the contrary was received from inside the scene, no detail, other than the fact that there had been a serious breach and breakdown of the chain of command, could be verified at the time. Under those circumstances, an Army officer with an uncluttered mind must assume that Army officers may also be involved in a paramilitary force commanded by Army officers, and act in strict accordance to the letter and spirit of the relevant Army CoC.

Negotiations and delaying tactics are an integral part of the process whenever possible. Not the "either-or" situation assumed by some.

Moin Bhai did not do that. he treated it like a "rescue" situation according to close aids, NOT defenders, and made the wrong call in the process. In a rescue situation involving a paramilitary outfit, the Army Chief and other Chiefs must seek the approval of the Defense Minister, in our case also the PM, and the Minister of Home Affairs, because BDR is under her supervision, and present emergency options clearly and forcefully.

He failed on all counts.

[Tigers_eye]

Thank you for your explanation Sohel bhai. Now we are almost in the same page.

I can not justify Army's move not infiltrating in to the BDR ranks with commandos in BDR gear; Non confrontational ofcourse to minimize casualty. (If situation arose even 10-15 men would have been enough to handle 100).

This ring you have mentioned is frightening. Weaving through the heartland Eendia in daily basis is no small task. They must have been bought with a hefty price as well.

+++

I see this whole BDR incident a bit differently. The most gained is Eendia, not Jamat, JMB. They would not be more happy if Bangladesh becomes a State like Sikim. The pawns are in place. Most of the major decisions are being made in Delhi. The border is at the weakest. The army moral is all time low. What more do they need to run in their home grown yaba tablets in to the youth of our nation? Didn't you hear about the new phenicidil factory operating close to our borders? How about having a new market that they can plunder? Now we can't even voice against Tipai mukh resevoir. It is a certainty that it will happen. Thank you Pronob Mukharji.

This is a well thought long term plan executed to the T.

[Sohel]

Originally Posted by Sohel NR
That said, we ought to look into who benefits the most from this.

There are corrupt individuals within BDR and their BSF counterparts across the border. These men are long term, career para military soldiers who deal with rotational commanders at all levels from the Army the best way they know how. Either by trying to bring them into the game, or trying to ride out their command. They are organized and engaged in a multimillion dollar human, narcotics, firearms, and contraband trafficking industry. Last two plus years of the caretaker have been particularly difficult for them. Clearly they and all organized crime directly benefiting from these transactions, including "political" criminals and terrorists directly benefit from the massacre. This buys them valuable time to try and recover some of their lost profits, and set up a new modus operandi to resume business as usual in and around our border areas.

Never said Jamaat/JMB were the SOLE party to benefit from the massacre. In fact, saw their benefit as secondary.

There are Indian nationals, BSF career paramilitary NCOs involved in the border Mafia for sure and they have connections. As do their Bangladeshi counterparts. But looking at this as a ploy undertaken by the Indian state is a stretch and purely speculative, IMHO.

Lets face it, that would be unsustainable and totally counterproductive. Such a thing will not only adversely effect our bilateral relations always in their favor irrespective of BNP or BAL rule, money talks more than anything else for that breed, but impact one of the largest market for Indian products outside India. They are not as stupid as our unfounded arrogance and emotional bias would have us believe. Also, such conspiracy theories divert attention from the real anti-Constitutionalist threat at hand and play right into their hands.

The Tipaimukh project, also opposed by Northeast Indian citizens, environmentalists and the State of Manipur-- was allowed to go ahead during BNP/Jamaat rule. Deafening silence from them at the time. There are commercial interests of the elite at play here on both sides of the border, with the poor likely to get the shaft as always, before the disaster impacts us all.

There is also a bigger, far more devastating project underway in China, namely the Tsangpo/Brahmaputra/Jamuna river dam that will actually melt the Himalayan icecap and make Farakka and Tipaimukh look like child's play for us and our neighbors, meaning Northeast Indian states, Nepal and Bhutan. Nobody's concerned about that even though it presents the best opportunity for unprecedented regional cooperation and put us all on the same page. Environmental catastrophe knows no borders.

[Zunaid]

Pardon, your slip is showing. Our biases are all very well obvious when we tend speak about "Eendians". I do agree with Sohel that stories of the Eendian hand in this is greatly exagerrated. Now BCCEendia is responsible for the West Eendian player strike.

More seriously - I wonder whether our response to the BDR mutiny is more a testament to our incompetence than to someone's hidden agenda. And perhaps, we attribute too much to Moeen's acts of ommission as opposed to his acts of commission. I believe he may have erred too much on trying to show that the military is not going to subvert civilian command. Having failed in the attempt to execute on the minus-two policy, perhaps his caution was driven to a certain extent in his desire not to attract additional ire of the Hasina. We've already had some BNP and AL rank-file calling for his trial. I am quite amazed at the measured response so far at the top. Not too feed the rumor mongers, but perhaps there is an hand-shake agreement somewhere?

You may have all heard about the officers who were quietly cashiered recently - the same officers you may have seen on you-tube - the one's that berated Hasina for the decisions the government made during the mutiny.

[BANFAN]

Originally Posted by Sohel NR
..............Now had I been the Army chief, I would have moved in right away, coordinating my efforts with specially trained RAB units until Army Commandos, I have the Ferocious Fourteen guys in mind here, arrived in the scene. The Army Chief or ANY Army unit for that matter, didn't need permission to put down a mutiny involving Army officers. They do not anywhere in the world because Military CoC compels you to put down mutinies in whatever capacity possible. If you do not, you're considered a mutineer yourself! ........................

Everything is perfect, and Moyeen is definitely at fault on a few counts. Like cordoning the area was mandatory even for negotiation.

As far the military CoC for intervention; they needed permission of the Ministry of home affairs (MoHA) to intervene. Though the BDR officers are from Army but their services have been rendered to MoHA. BDR is not under the CoC of Army chief. There the political government was at fault for not permitting to intervene, if that was the right action. As you also rightly said that the Army/RAB was forced to withdraw from the area as a part of negociated conditions. That was also a very big mistake of the negociators. You never negociate setting the criminals free. For all the plane hijacking cases (Though it is different than this) security forces will not lift the cordon before a negociation is done. Cordon is something you can trade against the lives of the captives. Same thing should aplly here in this case as well.

[parvez]

deleted

[ammark]

Just stumbled across this on the BBC Website. Brief investigative report on the mutiny.

Assignment
Mutiny in Bangladesh

Listen (Duration: 25 minutes)

Six months ago there was a short military revolt in Bangladesh that threatened to push the country into nationwide armed conflict. But some things remain mysterious. Why was it so brutal? Who was really behind it? What did they hope to achieve? In this week's addition of Assignment, Mark Dummett has tracked down key participants and eyewitnesses in search of some answers.

see accompanying news page: Bloody terror of Bangladesh mutiny (by Mark Dummett, 27 August 2009)