The members of erstwhile Bangladesh Rifles, who were dismissed and imprisoned after the 2009 BDR massacre, and their families on Tuesday staged a sit-in at the Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka to press home their demands including their colleagues鈥� release and job reinstatement.
Several hundred BDR members and their families from different areas across the country came to the spot, and made makeshift arrangements to stay there and the protest continued till filing the report at 8:30pm on the day.
The protesters slammed home adviser Jahangir Alam Chowdhury鈥檚 remarks that sacked BDR members could not be reinstated.
They urged the chief adviser to consider their demands.
Chairing the rally at the demonstration, Student Against Discrimination executive committee member Md Mahin Sarkar threatened to launch a tougher movement if the government failed to assure them of accepting the demands by Wednesday noon.
He said that ensuring justice over BDR killings was one of the main mandates of the interim government.
Mahin read out the protesters鈥� eight-point demand including immediate release of all detained BDR members acquitted of the murder case and all those who served jail terms in BDR carnage in February 25-26, 2009.
They also demanded to withdraw the 鈥榤otivated and farcical鈥� cases filed under the Explosive Substances Act.
They also demanded the reinstatement of sacked BDR members鈥� jobs, adequate compensation for all, justice over the killings of 74 people, including 57 army officials and 10 BDR members, and reinstate the Border Guard Bangladesh鈥檚 old name, BDR, as BDR was connected to the country鈥檚 independence and sovereignty.
On January 23, a total of 178 former members of the then BDR were released from different jails on bail in an explosive case linked to the 2009 BDR mutiny.
On January 29, survivors and families of the victims of BDR carnage at a press conference in Dhaka said that it would be unjust if all imprisoned and death row convicts were released on a wholesale basis as all BDR soldiers were not innocent.
On December 22, 2024, the interim government formed a seven-member National Independent Investigation Commission regarding carrying out the investigation into the 2009 massacre.
The commission was asked to submit the report within three months of its formation.
Mahin said that their movement would turn in another direction if the newly formed commission report failed to ensure justice to BDR families.
He said that they were not hearing the names of former Dhaka South City mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh and Awami League presidium member Jahangir Nanak and their role during the mutiny.聽
BDR member Kamrul Hasan鈥檚 wife said that her husband was sent to jail in 2009 when their son鈥檚 age was only two months and later her husband died in the hospital.
