Former Army Chief Moin U Ahmed spoke out about the Pilkhana Massacre

On February 25 and 26, 2009. One of the most brutal killings in the history of Bangladesh took place at the then BDR (now BGB) headquarters in Pilkhana in the capital. A total of 74 people including 57 army officers were killed in the BDR rebellion. After so many years of the massacre, this is the first time this former army chief, Moin U Ahmed who is stationed in Florida, spoke about 'Operation Restore Order' and the BDR rebellion.

Sitting on a sofa in a half-sleeve shirt of blue embroidered white chiffon with a scruffy French cut beard, Moin looked quite aged. At the beginning of his 29-minute video message about the murder, he said, 'After the fall of the dictatorial government on August 5, some eyewitnesses and family members of the BDR rebellion have presented their experiences. I also want to highlight my role.' Moeen U Ahmed has written a book on the BDR rebellion, which will be published soon, he said.

Moin U Ahmed said, when I ordered an investigation into the BDR rebellion, I was told; What do we need 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 that the army's inquiry committee was headed by Lt. Gen. Jahangir Alam Chowdhury (current home adviser). He could not complete his work properly. Because many of those involved were in jail. It was not possible to ask many questions. It was not possible to get a statement from those who were associated with them in various discussions. That is why he could not fulfill his duty. General Jahangir Alam came to me several times during the army inquiry and highlighted his problems.'

Moin U Ahmed said, 'I hope, now that he has become the Home Affairs Advisor, he will be able to reconstitute this investigation committee and find out those involved. I requested him in this regard after forming the government.' In his video, Moin U Ahmed demanded a fair investigation into the Pilkhana murder. He also said that his book on BDR rebellion will be published soon.

What happened that day in Pilkhana?

Narrating the events of that day, Moin U Ahmed said that on that day (February 25, 2009) at 7:30 in the morning, the daily work of the headquarters started. In the morning I was preparing to go there. At that time, CGS Lt. Gen. Sinha Ibn Jamali came to me and said, "We have some mortars, which are not used by the army." Its warehousing and maintenance is difficult for us. But BDR uses those. It will benefit us if they take them away.'

He said, 'Then when I spoke to BDR DG General Shakeel, he agreed to take those. I believe he knew nothing about this rebellion till then. After that I went for another CGS meeting. The meeting started at 9 o'clock. We all got busy there. Around 9:30 my principal secretary Colonel Feroze entered the room and told me that there was a turmoil in the pilkhana. We need your guidance. After some time, I tried to talk to the former Prime Minister (Sheikh Hasina). But their phone was busy.'

Moin U Ahmed said, 'Military intelligence then informed me about the situation. Realizing the gravity of the situation, I then ordered another brigade of the army to prepare for the operation without anyone's instructions to save time. They immediately started taking action which was named 'Operation Restore Order'.

He said, 'DG BDR (Shakil) was found on the phone at 9:47. He told me, 'During the Durbar, two armed soldiers entered and one stood behind me. Then the sound of gunshots came from outside. Immediately the soldiers inside left the court hall. It all seems to be planned and everything was going according to plan. I have sent sector commanders and battalion commanders to bring them back.' Then I told him about the operation.

Moin U Ahmed also said, I was able to contact the former prime minister on the phone at 9:54. Meanwhile, he 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 build this brigade? When I informed the time and asked his permission to go to Pilkhana to the brigade, she gave permission. Although it took a long time in this case, 46 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 46 Brigade approached the main gate at 11:00 a.m., insurgents fired rockets at a pickup. The driver died on the spot. According to Lt. Col. Shams, many officers including DG, DDG, Colonel Anis, Colonel Kaiser were shot dead between 10:30 and 11:00. Our team arrived after 11 o'clock.'

Criticizing a private TV channel's live coverage of 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 that Captain Shafiq reached Pilkhana with 355 RAB members under his leadership before 10 o'clock. 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.

Moin said, around 11:45 PSO AFD said that the government is trying to solve this 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 12 o'clock he called me and asked me to meet the former prime minister at Jamuna urgently. Around 1 pm former minister Jahangir Kabir Nanak and whip Mirza Azam went to Pilkhana for discussion.

He also said that the Chief of Air Force and Navy arrived there an hour after I went to Jamuna. That is, they have been asked to call after me. After a long time when they reached there, we were informed that ex-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 the rebels have something to say, we should hear them." Then I told her, many have been killed. None of their claims will be entertained. You tell them first, killing officers have to stop right now. Second, all those detained must be released immediately. Thirdly, the rebels with arms must surrender and fourthly, there is no question of amnesty.'