Editorial
Deaths of BDR men in custody
Govt must order a probe into the occurrences
Nine detained BDR men have died in inexplicable circumstances since March 9. Of course, the BDR, under its new management, has given it out that the men died of heart attacks or have committed suicide. At a time when intense investigations are going on to unearth the conspiracy behind the carnage that left 55 army officers dead at Pilkhana in February, it is worrying that reports have kept coming in of BDR men in detention dying. We are dismayed by such happenings; and we would like to make it clear that explaining these deaths away being a result of cardiac arrests or suicide is becoming untenable. All of us remember the frequency with which people died in 'crossfires' during the period of the BNP-led alliance government. Those reports of 'crossfires' did not hold water. In much the same manner, the nine BDR deaths are beginning to raise some uncomfortable questions.
We would like to make it clear that what we had anticipated, once the investigations into the February 25 tragedy went underway, would not occur has now sadly begun to happen. It is only natural and morally right to expect that individuals from whom information about a serious incident can be gleaned will be secure in the confines of detention. But these nine deaths raise considerably our fears that important witnesses to or even participants in the murders of February 25 may have been lost. There is no question that these nine deaths have left the inquiry process clouded, and possibly controversial. Unless the authorities take measures to prevent any more such deaths, the entire process of investigation into the February 25 carnage will become questionable, both nationally and internationally. It is from such a perspective that we raise our voice again, to ask that the law and due process be adhered to if there is to be a meaningful conclusion to the BDR-related investigations. Every aspect of the tragedy must be presented before a court of law. For that to happen, it is vital that every suspect, every detained BDR jawan be kept safe, alive and well.
We must say we are surprised at the silence of the government on the issue of the deaths of the BDR men in custody. Now that the uncomfortable truth of the deaths is out in the open, it is for the government to order a probe into the matter. An important point cannot be missed, which is that any failure to get to the bottom of the massacre at Pilkhana and punishing the real culprits behind it can only raise the level of the threat posed to our already frayed national security structure.
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