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How they were forced to take up arms

SURANJITH DEABNATH
A number of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) personnel, who fled the BDR headquarters at different times during February 25-26, have told T he Daily Star how a group of masked Jawans forced them to take up firearms during the first hour of mutiny.
"Take up arms, else none of you will survive,” a BDR Jawan from Battalion-24 quoted a masked Jawan, brandishing a gun and firing blank shots into the air, as saying.
Several dozen BDR personnel, waiting to report back to duties yesterday, spoke to this correspondent about the events of the fateful, February 25.
T he authorities have divided the BDR men reporting back to duty into two groups -- those reporting back in uniforms were asked to line up in front of the Pilkhana headquarters gate at Zigatola, and those without uniforms were sent to the Abahani sports field in Dhanmondi.
The BDR soldiers were present at Darbar Hall in the morning and said that a group of men in BDR uniforms wearing red,
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1 orange and violet masks forced them to take up arms from the armoury.
A BDR soldier from Battalion-44 said that they were scared when they heard that two BDR Jawans had already been killed for refusing to comply.
Many said the masked Jawans were directly involved in the killings. Many also claimed that the general BDR soldiers knew nothing about any pre-planned conspiracy to carry out the massacre.
Describing the first moments of the mutiny, a Jawan said, “We general solders were waiting for the programme at Darbar Hall to begin. Suddenly we heard gunshots at around quarter past nine. Along with others, we ran away from the Darbar Hall and returned to our battalions."
“Within a few minutes, a group of masked Jawans came over and instructed us over mikes to collect arms from the armoury, saying that otherwise we would lose our lives,” he said.
It was difficult to know who was who as thousands of BDR I p~”sonnel from 46 battalions of 12 sectors were inside Pilkhana to mark BDR week at the time, he said.
The men said that many of them felt helpless when they realised what was going on and they had no option but to flee the compound. They wore plainclothes to avoid being caught, they claimed.
Those who had fled in plainclothes and abandoned their uniforms are now worried about the consequence of their actions. They were also worried about their future.
Some Jawans said that right from the minute the mutiny started the Jawans have been under pressure — first they were forced to take up arms, then they faced possible arrest or shootings as they fled for their lives and now -- as they followed the government order to report back - they had no clue what would happen to them
“I have been living in this
uncertainty since February 25 though I did not take part in the mutiny. My entire family is worried about my future," a Jawan from battalion-2 said.
Around five thousand BDR personnel in uniform and Elainclothes have reported ack to duty following the government order, sources said.