More than 500 sacked members of the Bangladesh Army, the Bangladesh Navy, and the Bangladesh Air Force on Wednesday demanded to the interim government chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus and chiefs of the three forces for the reinstatement of their jobs after a neutral investigation.
They, under the banner of 鈥楽ohojoddha鈥�, alleged that the fascist Awami League government had sacked them illegally considering their political identity and fake allegations of taking drugs and extramarital affairs.
Addressing a press conference at the National Press Club auditorium in Dhaka, they placed three demands including reinstatement of their jobs with due salary and allowances.
They also demanded to include the sacked members, whose jobs could not be reinstated, in the government鈥檚 pension scheme with all facilities, and reforming the one-sided British colonial justice systems in the forces as the system was used to remove them from their jobs.
聽鈥楢t least 3,000 to 4,000 members were sacked during the Awami League regime. Our demands are for over 500 members who were sacked illegally either taking confessional statement through torture or one-sided trial without giving a chance for self-defence,鈥� said Sohojoddha chief coordinator Md Naimul Islam, also a former member of the army.
He urged the chief adviser and the chiefs of three armed forces to look into the matter as they were leading a miserable life after losing their jobs.
He also alleged that if the wife of any individual force member lodged any complaint out of anger, the authorities then used it as a political tool.
鈥榃e had submitted a memorandum to the chief adviser on September 15 and his private secretary received it. We are yet to receive any response from the office,鈥� he added.
Several sacked members also claimed that they were kept in secret detention centers, including that one now known as 鈥楢ynaghor鈥�, for days together and were tortured for putting signatures on the papers having 鈥榮o-called confession鈥�.
Maksudul Alam Bari, a sacked member of the Bangladesh Navy, said that he was sacked from his job over an allegation of taking drugs. 鈥楤ut they did not conduct any dope test.鈥�
鈥楾hey charged me without any test by a doctor. They also kept me in Aynaghor. Due to 鈥榤artial law鈥�, we could not even go to the High Court and Supreme Court,鈥� said Bari.
Md Korban Ali, Sohojoddha coordinator for Bangladesh Air Force, said that if there was any allegation of taking drugs by any of the force members, the Combined Military Hospital would conduct dope tests. 鈥楤ut the officials then took the accused ones to their known private hospitals.鈥�
He alleged that the private hospital authority used to provide test reports as per the directives of the high officials.
Sohojoddha coordinator for Bangladesh Navy Abdul Hakim said that he along with 14 other members were sacked illegally from one unit.
鈥業 was sacked from the force over an allegation of extramarital affair. I was kept in a condemned cell for 48 days and tortured there,鈥� he said.