Former members of Bangladesh Rifles stage protests demanding reinstatement of jobs

Dhaka: Hundreds of dismissed members of Bangladesh Rifles on Sunday staged a protest in Dhaka demanding reinstatement to their jobs and compensation.

The members of the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), now known as Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) gathered near the main gate of the BGB headquarters in Pilkhana. Most of the protesters lost their jobs following the 2009 Pilkhana massacre, which resulted in the deaths of 74 people, local media reported.

In response to the demonstration, a large number of police personnel were deployed to the area, along with members of the army and BGB.

“They are stationed on the footpath across from the BGB gate, near the lake. We are trying to start a dialogue with them,” an official said.

The country’s leading newspaper Prothom Alo reported that, on 25 February 2009, several hundred Bangladesh Rifles men rose in an armed revolt at the Darbar Hall of the force’s Pilkhana headquarters during the three-day “BDR Week”. They killed 74 people, including 57 army officers.

The mutiny finally ended the following day with the surrender of firearms, ammunition and grenades through a negotiation between the then government and the BDR rebels.

Some 152 people were sentenced to death and 423 others to different jail terms in the country’s largest-ever killing case. Among the convicts, 262 mutineers were sentenced to different jail terms ranging from three months to 19 years. On the other hand, 5,926 BDR personnel were sentenced to different jail terms ranging from four months to seven years in the 57 mutiny cases.

Last month, addressing a commemoration ceremony in Dhaka on the Pilkhana killings, Bangladesh’s Chief of Army Staff, General Waker-Uz-Zaman, urged all to refrain from disrupting the trial of the Pilkhana killings.

He emphasised that the incident was committed entirely by members of the then Bangladesh Rifles (BDR).

Reports suggest that in recent months, the dismissed BDR members and their families have staged protests, placing several demands, including annulment of the verdict of the former Sheikh Hasina government’s alleged cases against them and release of the BDR personnel detained.

IANS