New Delhi
28 February 2009
A second mass grave has been unearthed at the headquarters of the
mutinous paramilitary border guards in the Bangladeshi capital. More
than 75 bodies have been found, mostly senior military personnel, but
dozens more officers have not been accounted for. Meanwhile, the head
of the Bangladesh army is pledging support for the two-month-old
civilian government amid fears soldiers will launch reprisal strikes
for the slaying of so many of their colleagues and members of their
families.
Amid a three-day period of national mourning, which
began Friday, Bangladesh is still coming to grips with the extent of
this week's massacre at the Dhaka headquarters of the paramilitary
border guards.
Uniformed bodies of army officers, shot and
bayoneted, continue to be found in mass graves at the compound of the
force they commanded, the Bangladesh Rifles, known as the BDR.
Seeking
to allay fears that a grieving and angry army could seek revenge
against the mutinous paramilitaries, the army chief, General Moeen
Ahmed, met with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. He is said to have
pledged the military's loyalty to the civilian government and urged the
nation to stay calm.
 |
| Sheikh Hasina Wajed (file photo) |
The prime minister is calling the uprising a well-planned conspiracy.
She
says, at this point, all BDR members are presumed guilty and the
government will find out who is responsible for the killings.
In
an effort to end the two-day mutiny, the prime minister initially
promised amnesty for the rebels. But the army's second-in-command,
Lieutenant General Mohammad Abdul Mubin, says that is not going to
happen.
The general declares the troops who took part in what
he calls "barbaric and grisly acts" cannot be pardoned and will not be
pardoned.
For a second day along the 4,000 kilometer long
border with India, the BDR guards were not observed at their posts.
Analysts and Indian media say it is unclear whether they are inside the
barracks or have fled.
Several hundred soldiers of the
Bangladesh Rifles, who either escaped from the scene of the carnage in
Dhaka or abandoned their posts across the country, have been detained.
Rebels
of the paramilitary force claimed they took action during the uprising
to protest their poor pay and mistreatment by their commanders, who
come from the army.
Bangladesh, since winning independence in a 1971 war with Pakistan, has suffered numerous military takeovers and coup attempts.
The prime minister's father, Sheikh Mujibuy Rahman, who was
the country's first head of state, was killed in a 1975 military coup.
Ms. Hasina, previously prime minister for five
years until 2001, regained power in democratic elections two months
ago, ending a period of emergency rule by a military-backed government.