The families of the victims of the 2009 Pilkhana carnage on Thursday announced that they would lodge a complaint to the International Crimes Tribunal against deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina and others over the massacre.
Saquib Rahman, son of slain Colonel Quadrat Elahi Rahman Shafique, came up with the information at a press conference at the Retired Armed Forces Officers鈥� Welfare Association building in the capital鈥檚 Mohakhali, saying that they would submit the complaint within two weeks.
In February 25-26, 2009, carnage at the then BDR headquarters in the capital鈥檚 Pilkhana left 57 military officers and 17 civilians killed, including the chief of the BDR, Major General Shakil Ahmed.
Saquib said they would file the complaint against a number of people of the then government, including Sheikh Hasina and the then chiefs of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence and National Security Intelligence, and others who were involved in the Pilkhana massacre.
Hasina鈥檚 former security adviser, Major General (retired) Tarique Ahmed Siddique; former lawmakers Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, Sheikh Selim, and Jahangir Kabir Nanak; and others would also be accused, he added.
Nehreen Ferdousi, wife of slain Colonel Mujibul Hoque, presented six-point demand at the press conference urging the interim government to launch a fresh investigation for the sake of a fair trial and give a progress report regarding the proposed inquiry commission.
The other demands include that all investigation reports related to the tragedy be made public, February 25 be officially recognised as 鈥楽haheed Shena Dibash鈥� through an official gazette before February 2025, and the national flag be flown at half-mast every year on this day, and the 57 brave soldiers who were killed should be given the status of martyrs through an official gazette.
Apart from this, she also demanded that the Pilkhana tragedy should be included in the syllabus of school textbooks, and all innocent people who were arrested should be given speedy release by completing the trial quickly.
Echoing the six-point demand, Rakin Ahmed Bhuiyan, son of Maj Gen Shakil Ahmed and Naznin Ahmed, both of whom were killed during the carnage, accused the then Awami League government of carrying out the massacre and demanded the identification of the mastermind involved behind the scenes.
Victim family members also said that the narrative about a dispute over 鈥極peration Dal-Bhat鈥� leading to the killings is false, saying that it was spread with the intention of diverting attention away from the actual motives behind the killings.
Terming the massacre as planned murder, they said that then top officials of the government and security forces, India and its intelligence agency were involved in the incident.
The fascist Sheikh Hasina killed the 57 army officers, otherwise the Hasina government could not cling to the state power for 15 years, they said.
The victim family members urged the interim government to ensure justice through transparent probe and trial over the incident and bring the mastermind involved with the incident to book.
