MYSTERIOUS DEATHS ARE NO COINCIDENCE:BDR rebellion, probe and helicopter crash M. Shahidul Islam The sovereignty of the nation is sinking like a busted ship and foreign powers are trying desperately to Afghanise our beloved motherland since the carnage inside the BDR headquarters. Who is to blame? Of course the Government for much of what has been happening with the fate of the nation of late. Not only that the Prime Minister (PM) herself had invited foreign spies to investigate an incident deep inside the heart of our national security establishments, she had also opened up a Pandora's Box on March 7 by saying, "Conspirators are trying to trigger a civil war in the country." Mysterious deaths Sources tend to suggest that some recent deaths of armed forces officers should not be taken as mere coincidence.For example, last week, an army Captain is reported to have 'committed suicide' in Dhaka while on leave, although, according to his family sources, he was compelled to embrace such a fate following his sharp criticism of the PM for mishandling the BDR mutiny. That was followed by the death of Subedar Mozammel inside a BDR building in Peelkhana under mysterious circumstances in the pre-dawn hours of March 7, and, the death of a Major General and one Lt. Col. in the helicopter crash in Tangail the following morning. The co-pilot of the helicopter, Major Sayed, is fighting with his last call with destiny in Dhaka's Combined Military Hospital. Equally mysterious is the death of the Pesh Imam of Peelkhana mosque. Imam Siddiqur Rahman, who died at Dhaka Medical College Hospital on March 11, had witnessed the carnage at BDR headquarters and disclosed important information during interrogation by different agencies. Soon after being interrogated, he fell ill and was removed to the hospital where he breathed his last. Sources claim that Subedar Mozammel wanted to share his secrets with the CID investigation team, but no confirmation is available. Something else may have happened in between and he was found dead. Amidst these disconcerting developments, many have begun to question the neutrality of the CID's team leader, Abdul Kahar Akhand, who was brought in from retirement to conduct the investigation. Akhand is said to be a relative of the PM and he had investigated the Mujib killing case following the AL's coming to power in 1996. Chopper crash However, the death of Maj. Gen. Rafiqul Islam and Lt. Col. Shahid appears to be shrouded in a mystery. Piloted by Lt. Col. Shahid, the crashed chopper was carrying Jessore area commander, Maj. Gen. Rafiq, to the army headquarters to meet the army chief, along with Maj. Gen. Mujahid Uddin, commander of the Mymensingh division, whom Gen. Rafiq was asked to pick up en route. One source says the helicopter's mechanical apparatuses were allegedly fiddled by some intelligence officials before it dashed for the sky from the Jessore helipad, while rumours abound that the chopper was shot at by someone while crossing the vicinity of the Jamuna Bridge area, manned by the army's composite brigade. Allegedly hit by a projectile, the chopper then lost control and swooped over an electric pole in Alenga, Tangail, before hitting a nearby pond. Investigators should look into the helicopter's pre-flight inspection log to ascertain the alleged mechanical fiddling while the report of any trace of bullet or other projectile on the chopper's body can be traced by the crash investigators. The military is not unbeknownst of the conspiracy that has already caused much of the damage to its existence and apprehends more; something an officer told the PM in an articulate manner during PM's meeting with aggrieved officers inside Dhaka Cantonment on March 1. Having heard the audio of the PM's conversation with aggrieved army officer, a veteran national security analyst says on condition of anonymity, "The PM either does not get it, or she too is helpless." He did not elaborate. It is alleged, lately the military's own investigation team was denied from having access to converse with three particular ministers who had entered the BDR compound during the mutiny. Dhaka-Kolkata train A source said, prior to the mutiny, a number of senior officers of the BDR had seriously objected to a government proposition to allow armed Indian security forces to man Dhaka-Kolkata train service that had been introduced on April 14, 2008. The proposition came from the Indian foreign office after the AL's coming to power. Apprehensive that India wanted to carry military cargo or other contraband substances under the armed guard of its security force members -- which could result in guerrilla attacks by North East Indian rebel groups -- one of the assassinated senior BDR officers is said to have commented, "India is trying to set up an occupation force inside our country in the name of 'peace mission' by employing its security forces in passenger trains." Analysts claim that comments made by BDR officers had reached relevant quarters in India within a short time. External linkages Sources also say that the prevailing suffocating atmosphere is making the probing of external linkages with the BDR mutiny extremely difficult, although such external linkages could be many. For example, Major General (retd) Fazlur Rahman said recently that the BDR uprising is the revenge for the killing of 19 BSF soldiers in 2001 when they had tried to intrude inside Bangladesh soil. That incident took place when Gen. Rahman was DG of BDR and the AL was then in power. Other analysts tend to suggest the involvement of Assam's ULFA guerrillas in the mutiny. They say the recent decision by the government to deport to India the captive ULFA leader, Anup Chatya, might have antagonised his followers who wanted to upstage the Government through this mutiny. ULFA theory The ULFA theory, however, is not taken seriously by observers who think the guerrilla outfit is incapable of intruding into the heart of Bangladesh Armed Forces in the manner the mutiny had shown. The ULFA will also not like to antagonise Bangladesh armed forces by conducting such a massacre of its officers. Some analysts also claim that a section of the government does not seem to be serious or appear uncaring about unearthing the real truth. There is also an uncertainty about the actual number of officers killed in the mutiny. According to one source, 12 officers are still missing, as opposed to the five being claimed by the authority. Backlash from the meeting The precarious civil-military relationship created by such occurrences is blamed for much of what is going on, and, that particular aspect is no more a secret despite the government's move on March 9 to block access to the popular media-sharing Internet web site, YouTube, due to its allegedly containing an audio recording of the March 1 meeting inside Dhaka Cantonment between the army officers and the PM. An independent media web site, bdnews24.com, in a report posted on March 8, said the recording was "leaked apparently by rogue intelligence agents." However, rumours are doing the round that well over half a dozen senior officers have been removed from their posts since the March 1 meeting with the PM. It is also being rumoured that some more officers are about to face the same fate soon. FBI agents In the manner the FBI agents have entered the Peelkhana compound recently was no different from how US arms inspectors entered various military compounds in Iraq. What happened to Iraq's fate after that is not a lesson to be forgotten so soon. That notwithstanding, even if we are to believe that the PM had invited the FBI with an honest intent, the power play behind it shall not be overlooked due to some prominent US think tanks having already espoused external intervention to subvert the Islamists and blamed the Bangladesh military of being over-politicised, hinting to teach the military a lesson. For instance, Harsh Pant of the Washington-based International Relations and Security Network (ISN) wrote recently: "In the absence of political participation, mosques have become central in shaping the domestic political discourse. A politicised military is a grave danger to the underpinnings of a constitutional democracy and Pakistan's example should be enough of a warning for Bangladesh not to go down that route." http://www.weeklyholiday.net/front.html#02 |
__._,_.___