Online Desk  :   One of the most brutal massacres in the country’s history took place on 25-26 February 2009 at the then Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) Headquarters, currently Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) Headquarters, in Pilkhana in the capital. A total of 74 people including 57 army officers were killed in the Pilkhana carnage. Since then there have been many speculations regarding the murders. After the fall of the autocratic government led by Sheikh Hasina on 5 August due to a student-led mass uprising, many former army officers have spoken about the Pilkhana carnage. Many named the then prime minister Sheikh Hasina and Awami League leaders as the masterminds of the murders. Now the then army chief Moeen U Ahmed has opened up about the barbaric murders. Moeen U Ahmed, the main character of the much talked about “One-Eleven”, gave his commentary on his YouTube channel on Thursday. This is the first time Moeen, who is staying abroad, spoke about that incident. He said, “On that day (25 February 2009) at 7:30am, the daily work of the military headquarters began. In the morning I was preparing to go there. At that time, CGS Lt Gen Sinha came to me and said, we have some mortars, which are not used by the army. Their warehousing and maintenance is difficult for us. BDR uses these. It will benefit us if they take them.

“After that, when I spoke to BDR DG General Shakil, he agreed to take them. I believe he knew nothing about this rebellion till then. After that I went for another CGS meeting. The meeting started at 9am. We all got busy there. Around 9:30am my Principal Secretary Col Feroz entered the room and told me that, ‘There was a commotion in the Pilkhana and we need your guidance’. After some time I tried to talk to the former prime minister (Sheikh Hasina). But their phone was busy.” Moeen U Ahmed said, “The military intelligence then told me about the situation. Realising the gravity of the situation, I then ordered another brigade of the army to prepare for the operation without anyone’s orders to save time. They immediately started taking action which was named as ‘Operation Restore Order’.

He said, “DG BDR (Shakil) was found on the phone at 9:47am. He told me, ‘During the Durbar, two armed soldiers entered and one stood behind me. Then came the sound of gunshots from outside. Immediately the soldiers left the Durbar Hall. It all seems to be planned and going according to plan. I have sent sector commanders and battalion commanders to bring them back.’ Then I told him about the operation. Moeen U Ahmed also said, “I was able to contact the former prime minister on the phone at 9:54am. Meanwhile, she got a lot of information about the BDR rebellion. When I told her about the operation, she wanted to know how long it would take to prepare the brigade. I informed about the time and asked for her permission to send the brigade to Pilkhana. In this case, although it usually takes a long time, the 46th Brigade started its journey within an hour.

“Meanwhile, the rebels deployed rocket launchers, mortars and other weapons to resist the attack in front of the BDR gates. As the first vehicle of the 46th Brigade approached the main gate at 11am, insurgents fired rockets at a pickup. The driver died on the spot. According to Lt Col Shams, many officers including DG, DDG, Col Anis, Col Kaiser were shot dead between 10:30am and 11:00am. Our team arrived after 11am.” Criticising the live coverage on TV channels during the mutiny, the then army chief said that the live media coverage at the time of the incident played a negative role in spreading the BDR mutiny. The former army chief said Captain Shafiq reached Pilkhana with 355 RAB members under his leadership before 10am. At that time, he asked his superior officer for permission to enter the Pilkhana, but he did not get it. Had he been allowed, the situation might have been easier to deal with and not so much damage done.

Moeen said, “Around 11:45am PSO AFD said that the government is trying to solve the problem politically. The rebels have demanded that the army must withdraw from the area before any talks are held. If there is no agreement with them then military operations will be conducted. At 12pm he called me and asked me to meet the former prime minister at Jamuna on an urgent basis. Around 1pm former minister Jahangir Kabir Nanak and whip Mirza Azam went to Pilkhana for discussion.”

He also said, “The chiefs of the Air Force and Navy went there an hour after I went to Jamuna. That is, they were called and asked to go there after I was. After a long time, when they reached there, we were informed that former minister Jahangir Kabir Nanak and whip Mirza Azam were coming to Jamuna with a group of rebels and they (rebels) demanded amnesty. Former prime minister (Sheikh Hasina) said, ‘If anything needs to be told to the rebels, we should tell them.’ Then I told her, ‘Many have been killed. None of their demands can be accepted. You tell them first, killing officers have to stop right now. Second, all those detained must be released immediately. Thirdly, rebels with arms must surrender. And fourthly, amnesty is out of the question’.”

Army didn’t get govt’s help in investigating the incident :

Moeen U Ahmed said, “When I ordered an investigation into the BDR rebellion, I was told that why do we need to do that when the government is investigating this matter? We did not get the help we needed from the government to conduct this investigation.” The former army chief said, “The army’s inquiry committee was headed by Lt Gen Jahangir Alam Chowdhury (current home adviser). He could not do his job properly, because many were in jail, many could not be questioned. He (Jahangir Alam) came to me and mentioned his problem several times.”

Moin U Ahmed said, “He has now become the home affairs adviser. I hope he will be able to reconstitute this investigation committee and find out the culprits. I requested him in this regard after forming the government.” In his video, Moeen U Ahmed demanded a fair investigation into the Pilkhana carnage. He also said his book on the BDR mutiny will be published soon.