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Losers and gainers of BDR mutiny

Sultan Mohammed Zakaria
THERE are many speculations about who gained what from the BDR Mutiny, which fatally claimed the lives of more than seventy people, and also who are to blame at the end of the day. Nevertheless, it is still too early to draw a conclusion and it is only time that will divulge more truth and facts and figures about the incident. But at this stage, many are calculating from their own partisan or bi-partisan point of views. Let us look at some of these issues.
During the first hours of the mutiny, when the media indiscrim-
inately aired one-sided allegations of corruption of the army officers, it was the army who were to lose its credentials most and that would have left the establishment with shattered confidence within public sphere. It was those first hours when the causes of BDR soldiers were much more focused and
highlighted and many were mislead to believe their demands. The government too scored well during those hours checking any military solution to the problem that could pose more dangers. Even opposition parties did well keeping mum, at least without pointing any fingers: a likely case considering our past experiences.
But things turned around very rapidly within a day. Mass graves were discovered, bodies of slain officers found inside the sewers, and the horrific statements of the atrocities started coming out and the whole scenario began to change all of a sudden. Everyone who supported lite causes of the mutiny felt unhesitatingly cheated. Nobody was in a position to support that madness anymore, whatever the causes behind it. The Army at this point regained their public support for their patience and perseverance during those tense hours. People liked their steadfastness to the civilian government and massive public outcries were seen in the scene, showing sympathy to the military officers and their families' agonies. The government who held unanimous supports just a day before faced fierce criticism from the opposition and the army for not allowing the army to storm the BDR compound; it could, as both of them argue, save the lives of the officers. But at this point nobody is talking about the attack they are decrying for it could have claimed many lives, including those of civilians living in close vicinity, the families of soldiers and officers and mostly the innocent BDR Jawans who were bystanders of the incident or forced to take arms, if the army squalled the mutiny place. Nobody is making a point here that if the army went crazy the fatality would have been unimaginable and the BDR soldiers could then have stated that
the slain officers were not killed but victims of friendly fire by their fellow men. The most significant and disastrous one would be the feelings of nearly seventy thousand BDR soldiers that their causes were quelled by force. That kind of reaction could do much more harm to the relationship among BDR solders, army officers and the government and could have left a permanent mark.
What happened after all these conundrums is that most of the ranks and files forgot those corruption allegations against the army officers (as public memory is usually short) and most of the BDR Jawans felt that what their fellow colleagues did was a very bad thing. The soldiers are now in the back seat, with lost mental vigor and a feeling of guilt at large. But it could have been a very different reaction if the army went berserk initially.
Therefore, considering the normalization of relationship among many stakeholders of the incident, the government successfully averted a bloody legacy and the army showed its maturity.
Who are the losers then? It is apparently the players who wanted chaos in the country. The sad event shifted many urgent focuses and the government will be busy unearthing the event for the next few months and, in the worst case, for the whole tenure, carrying the legacy of blood and distrust. The relation between the armed forces and the government will take a new shape after this event; this strained relation is not
the best depicted picture foreseen by the fledging government who just received a sweeping victory on December 29 last year. Among the losers, our opposition is also to be placed who and their like-minded media houses recklessly tried and are still trying to point fingers towards the government for the incident and ignite hatred among military officers f against the government for not taking actions promptly. This effort even crossed limits sometimes when a columnist posted an article in a particular right wing newspaper questioning the commandership of the armed forces (for their 'unbelievable' patience)! Their intention is very clear: instigating the army to go angry, lose control and behave irresponsibly against the civilian government. But the army played it very cool showing their incredible professionalism and maturity. So the opposition, considering their diehard efforts, still remains in the losing end.
It is all about losing and gaining, but one irreplaceable thing is that the country has lost some of its most brilliant officers. And, for sometimes, it has been veered into its direction of struggle for economic emancipation. It reminds us that the country must do more to shred the evil networks inside which made it a guinea pig of many outside elements: difficult task indeed.
The author is a researcher. He can be reached at
zak_info@yahoo.co uk