Pilkhana Carnage: Victims' families demand independent commission for investigation

Families of the victims of the 2009 Pilkhana carnage today called for the formation of a commission to uncover the truth and ensure the punishment of the actual perpetrators.

They urged the interim government to reinstate the over 18,000 sacked BDR members, claiming that they were not actual perpetrators.

"Our demand is to ensure the punishment of the main culprits. We don't believe that over 18,000 BDR members committed the crime," said Rakin Ahmed, son of the late Major General Shakil Ahmed, who was then the director general of BDR.

He was speaking as the chief guest at a discussion organised by the BDR Kallyan Parishad at the Ramana Engineering Institution.

Rakin said that the government must form a commission without delay.

He also said that conspiracies are ongoing both domestically and internationally, calling on citizens to support the students and people resisting these forces.

"Various intelligence agencies are plotting conspiracies from both home and abroad. Besides, the collaborators of the autocrats are still in the government," he said.

Presiding over the discussion, BDR Kallyan Parishad President Md Foyzul Haque alleged that the 2009 mutiny was orchestrated by the then Awami League-led government.

"We urge the interim government to reinstate the dismissed BDR members, as they are not the perpetrators," he added.

During the discussion, a nine-point demand was presented to the interim government, which included reinstating the dismissed BDR members and forming an independent commission to investigate the incident. Other demands include designating the 74 individuals, including 57 army officers, who lost their lives in the Pilkhana carnage as martyrs, declaring 25 February as Pilkhana Tragedy Day, providing compensation and rehabilitation for the families of the victims, and granting immediate bail while withdrawing cases against BDR personnel who have been imprisoned for 16 years.