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United in Grief for the fallen in BDR mutiny, United in seeking justice
ehabmehedi More bodies of Mil. Officers extracted. At least 7 bodies dugg out of the ground - Chann i . #bdr #dhaka
littleabout: 38 more bodies found at BDR headquarters: Dhaka, Feb 27 (ANI): Thirty-eight more bodies were found on Friday dur.. http://tinyurl.com/cxba9z
KidFromDhaka: I Don't think all member of BDR present @ Pilkhana was involved in murder itwas planned by small group other just followed with mobmentality
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Kotha Chilo writes:
What do you call it when a group of "disgruntled" BDR soldiers [Bangladesh border guards] started their expression of grievances by open-firing on the commissioned army officers? Mutiny? Rebellion? Revolt? Uprising? When the events started to unfold at Dhaka's BDR headquarters, Bangladesh news media coined words such as "mutiny" and "revolt".
[..]
What happened inside BDR headquarters wasn't any 'mutiny' – that was gross violation of chain of commands and brutality. Even our liberation war did not see so many of our officers dead – killed brutally.
[..]
The BDR soldiers said they were repressed, oppressed and tortured by the officers posted in BDR sectors. They said they became "disgruntled" of their [the army's] behaviour as well as corruption. What a way to protest and drive your demands home. Till now, out 186 officers 20 bodies of officers have been recovered from the river and sewage holes. The rest are missing. BDR chief Maj-Gen Shakil Ahmed Chowdhury was killed in the first minute. His wife was burnt alive inside their residence. The soldiers killed many officers indiscriminately without judging who were guilty of corruption and who were not. What do I call it now? The "disgruntled-ness" of soldiers has led to more than 100 deaths.
[..]
"disgruntled"? Isn't the wife who is manhandled every night "disgruntled"? Aren't the day labourers who remain unfed and half-fed "disgruntled"? Aren't the people who live under misrule of so-called democratic politicians and power-hungry army dictators "disgruntled"?BDR soldiers – now I feel "disgruntled" at your massacre. I wish I had a way to express my "disgruntled-ness".
A majority of the Army officers like RAB, Task Forces, Brigades, Divisional HQs, or Units, who were working in different important areas during CTG period, were all posted to BDR as part of the changes of the Govt.
Now that many of them are gone, who benefits from the demise of these 'witnesses'?
We condemn those who to meet their grievances brutally killed the innocent and worthy sons of the nation.
We mourn the death of our brave officers, many of whom had served the nation in their golden career. We also mourn the death of innocent family members and ordinary citizens in the incident.
We express our heartfelt sympathy for the relatives of the dead who have lost their husbands, brothers or sisters in the massacre.
We have no language left but only silent prayer to Almighty for the children who lost their parents and who will remain in shock and pain for long.
This brutality has no meaning. It is not a way to meet one’s grievances.
The government should make a thorough inquiry of the event and punish those who were involved in plotting and executing this heinous act.
It is a sad irony that BDR soldiers have carried out this massacre. On the night of March 25, 1971 it was BDR soldiers (then EPR) who became the first martyrs of Bangladesh’s Liberation War when Pakistani soldiers massacred them by the hundreds at Pilkhana. It was the opening salvo of the 1971 genocide. Pilkhana is hallowed ground. These cold blooded murderers have defaced it.
Now that the BDR “mutiny” in Dhaka is over, bodies of those massacred are being found inside the BDR headquarters at Pilkhana. Other bodies have been discovered dumped into sewege drains. Many army and BDR officers remain missing and it is feared the death toll may rise to 170.
The anger among the population is rising. More alarmingly, there is news that there is grave frustration inside the army about the handling of this. Amid speculations on the nature of the amnesty, Hasina today hinted on investigating the ‘real instigators’. While that can be done in the mid-long term, in the short term, a clear announcement that no criminals, murderers, rapists and arsonists will be pardoned is a must. Similarly the country needs to mourn and reconcile for the loss of so many army officers.
Yesterday it was a tensed day in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. The 33-hour long mutiny and siege by aggrieved lower rank officers of paramilitary forces BDR ended as they surrendered their arms in the evening at the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) headquarters. According to news paper reports seventeen BDR members (mostly army officers in command of the forces) and four civilians have been killed. Hostages were freed but 65-100 army officers and lower rank jawans are still missing and most of them are feared dead.
There has been many turn of events the whole day as the armed forces prepared an offensive to quell the mutiny. Tanks rolled in Dhaka city and people living near the BDR headquarters were evacuated. But after Prime Minister's televised speech the rebels finally surrendered avoiding bloody consequences.
Bloggers like BDfact were live blogging the prime Ministers' speech. Unheard Voice Blog posted regular updates the whole day. Joruri Khobor rounded up Facebook status messages which described the situation.
Jessica Lim posted some photos in her blog and in Flickr despicting the horror people faced. Dhaka Daily Photo has more pictures.
Shahnaz at Dhaka Dweller provides some background of the rebellion of the BDR members and asks some questions:
And this is how the seeds of discontent were first sown. The masters considered them an elite class, far above the lowly serfs. There was great disparity between pay, benefits, working conditions and career advancement between the officers and rank and file, and issues of corruption practiced by senior officers. [..] Soldiers raised their grievances again and again with their officers, to no avail. Their Director General had promised to place the soldiers demands to the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina when she inaugurated the BDR week events. But he must have forgotten his promise, for he only spoke on behalf of his officers on that august occasion. Disgruntled soldiers grumbled all night.
All Sector Commanders were assembled in the Darbar Hall the next morning when in the course of an argument between the soldiers and officers, weapons were drawn and fired. We do not know who fired first, but the results were the same. Soldiers and officers died. And innocent civilians were killed and wounded. Gunshots and heavy mortar firing were heard. Plumes of smoke were seen rising from the BDR complex.
In a democracy, in a people's republic, grievances should not be allowed to explode in this manner. This situation has caught the government unaware, but really, did the government (albeit newly elected), have absolutely no idea this was brewing? Could it not have been prevented?
Bloggers are debating issues like why BDR members resorted to killing the officers and especially, the controversial ‘who fired first'. Quoting a army officer who was present in the scene media reports [bn] that the BDR jawans fired first on the officers. But this blogger quoting his uncle who was also present there [bn] reveals that the BDR chief was involved in firing on a jawan during altercation and this had escalated the situation. The question remains who is telling the truth.
Atiqul Haque rounds up [bn] newspaper and citizen media reports of survivors. Some of the officers who were held hostage revealed shocking tales of brutality on them. The public sympathy shifted from the BDR mutineers to the army victims who were brutally executed. Bloggers like Dhrubo Hasan mourned the deaths. A commenter Nighat Tithi said:
খারাপ লাগছে মানুষের সহমর্মিতা পাবার জন্য তাদের মিথ্যাচার দেখে, শুরুতে টিভিতে একজন জোয়ান বলেছিলেন, মাত্র একজন অফিসার মারা গেছেন, তার নাম বলা যাবে না। অথচ বিদ্রোহের শুরুতেই ৭০ জন (প্রথম আলো'র সংবাদ অনুযায়ী) অফিসারকে গুলি করে মারা হয়েছে। শুধু তাই না, তাদের গুলির পাশাপাশি বেয়নেট নিয়ে খুচিয়ে আঘাত করে হয়েছে। এই কি স্বাধীন দেশের মানুষের নিজের ভাইয়ের প্রতি আচরন? এইসব তথ্য সম্পূর্ণ গোপন রাখা হয়েছিলো ! আহারে, মাত্র ১৭ জনের লাশ পাওয়া গেলো। বাকি লাশগুলোকে কি করা হয়েছে? তাদের কি দাফনও হবে না?
The government bowed to BDR's demand by giving them amnesty for the mutiny. Kamaluddin asks [bn] to whom the amnesty was given? Those who brutally killed officers and innocent civilians?
Unheard Voice Blog appeals to the government to declare Saturday, February 28 as the national day of mourning to honor the deceased servicemen and the innocent civilians and demanded justice for the victims.
Update: World Focus posts a blog roundup: Bangladesh revolt ends after deadly soldier mutiny.
ehabmehedi Anyone got info on the 9yr old dead body found earlier today ? Mujib Hoq had a 9-10/yo daughter. #bdr #dhaka
atunu Facebook users from Dhanmondi areas reporting sounds of Tank Tracks near Lalmatia water tank #bdr #bangladesh #dhakamahmudur #bdr mobile network is off in outside of dhaka at this moment but it will be off in whole country any moment
PurpleRome It all started in Dhaka but now its spreading to the rest of the country. Prime Minister Sheik Hasina will address the nation in a while.
sudhak In Dhaka and the situation is getting worse, mutiny spreading, hearing reports that a state of emergency will likely be called
phpfour crowd rattled in shahbag...continuous gunshots heard near dhaka uni(versity)
mahmudur #bdr army high officials told doctors of dhaka medical college to be prepared for mass causalities to be happened in short time
TheTravlnAzn Army is about to attack thhe BDR of bangladesh if theBDR does not drop its guns by 2pm local time, army has set up a large artillary gun ..
mahmudur #bdr #dhaka pm's speech started from 2:18 pm local time
Please ensure that there is no war. My fear is that this does not spread as a civil war. We hope that it ends with minimum bloodshed.
TheTravlnAzn Seems like the BDR troops, once hearing the Prime Ministers words, has begun to lower their guns, this is not 100% offical yet!!
3.23 pm: ETV showing dhanmondi residents around pilkhana being evacuated. police are helping, though some may be fleeing of their own accord. Security around PM’s residence suddenly increased. the AL leadership was there all morning.
The DG raised before the Prime Minister only two demands of the army officers in BDR but none of the demands of the lower tier personnel. This intensified our grievance.However the army is denying that anyone has been shot. “Was that a blank fire? An intimidation that provoked?” Surely we know how the armed forces people treats the BDR jawans.
when the DG started delivering his speech before 9:00am, a few BDR personnel created a commotion from the rear. The officers, sitting in the front row reacted to their unruly behaviour.
The disgruntled jawans asked the DG about the profit made during the Dal-Bhaat programme. They said after the programme ended, they were told that they would receive bonuses from the profit. Accordingly they had put their signatures on money receipts, but never got the money, claimed the mutineer.
The mutineer said, “At one stage, an officer fired a shot injuring a jawan. Then the lower tier personnel went out of the Darbar Hall and returned there with arms from the Pilkhana armoury and held the officers hostage at gunpoint.”
It is learnt BDR troops is not likely to surrender arms to night.Fariha questions why Army was there first to quell the mutiny:
Some technical difficulties arose as to whom they will surrender arms as chain of command is fully broken and they are not willing to surrender arms to military.
This was complicated further by a rumor that a group of army commando is on its way from Sylhet to BDR HQ.
Tonight is a night of many probabilities.
For the army to use a chopper, ack acks and other ammunition to fire in a civilian dominated area in a democratic country is unnatural. We’re just asking for some transparency. Who ordered the army to come to BDR? And why the army and not police?Globetrotter says:
I have this sneaky suspicion (I hope I’m wrong) that the BDR jawans who led the mutiny won’t lay down their arms. They’ve already killed their officers, so they know that they will have to face the music from the army.Meanwhile Shahidul Alam has posted some photos from the ground and unbelievable videos:
Soldier with his mouth covered talking to this channel’s reporter has a whole new take on Operation Daal Bhaat. He says prices were artificially jacked up by high ranking BDR officials who stored commodities on BDR parade grounds and released them slowly to ensure prices went up first.Deal Reached:
1. What are the actual demands of the BDR personnel? Having its DG from BDR people, not from Army? Did they ask for financial support and additional privileges? For how long these demands were made and not being addressed? Why? We need sequential stories.Twitter updates:
2. All sector commanders were present in today's meeting at Darbar Hall. So, it cannot be the case that it was an accident. It must be a preplanned event. Who masterminded this?
Sony Center, one of the few places in Berlin where there is free wifi
The software is self-contained. Just install it into your mobile phone and tell your friends to install it and there you go! All the GSM networks like Grameen Phone, Banglalink, Teletalk or Aktel users can use BanglaSMS to send sms in Bangla.The input system seems very easy. Can't wait to check it out.
Oh, by the way, you know what? On 21st February 2009, the great International Mother Language Day, we have released version 2.0.0 as open source (and of course completely free). So who knows, may be you or your friend will write codes to make it even better.
The band that actual stole the show was the Bangladeshi band — Miles. Miles just celebrated their silver anniversary. We could see the reason why they are still going strong. I was at the top of my voice when they sang Shanti noi, Shanti noi.. I understand a lil’bit bangle and could actively indulge in their stellar act. They also covered November Rain and yeah — Rockk On… They surely rocked and left us thrilled!!! They also made us ‘Jump’. JUMP. JUMPPPPPPP!!!! When they asked us to chant “jaaala jaala” (one of Miles’ best), I was wondering “kaahan?” Funnily in Nepali, “jaala” means “will go [somewhere]”…
'Freeze Berlin' by Flickr user really nothing and used under a creative commons licence.
বাংলা ব্লগিং প্ল্যাটফর্ম চালু হবার পরে গত তিন চার বছরে অনেক অলেখকও যেমন লেখালেখিতে হাত পাকিয়েছেন তেমনি অনেক নবীন লেখকরাও ব্লগে লিখে তাদের লেখনীকে ধারিয়ে নিয়েছেন। আর তাই গত প্রায় তিন বছর ধরে প্রতি বছরেই ব্লগ পরিমন্ডল ও ব্লগারদের লেখা বইয়ের সংখ্যা উত্তোরত্তর বাড়ছে। এইবছর তো মোটামুটি ব্লগাররা মিছিল করেই বই ছাপিয়েছেন বিভিন্ন প্রকাশনী থেকে।
After the advent of Bangla blogging platform in the past 3-4 years many non-writers have started to write and some have really excelled in writing. Many budding writers have enriched their experience by writing in blogs. So for the last three years the number of books published by the bloggers are gradually increasing. This year in particular bloggers have flocked to publish their books from different publications.
মুক্ত গণমাধ্যমের মুক্ত মতামত কেমন হতে পারে, সে ধারণা আমাদের অনেকেরই আছে। কিন্তু মুক্ত গণমাধ্যমের সাহিত্য - গল্প, কবিতা, উপন্যাস - তাও কি সম্ভব? সে প্রশ্নের উত্তর খুঁজতেই ব্লগের নির্বাচিত লেখা নিয়ে ২০০৭ ও ২০০৮ সালে প্রকাশিত হয়েছিল সংকলন ‘অপরবাস্তব’।
ব্লগারদের কাছ থেকে মনোনয়ন আহ্বান করা হয়েছিল গত বছরের নভেম্বরে। একমাসেরও বেশি সময় ধরে মনোনয়ন গ্রহণের পর নির্বাচিত গল্পগুলো ব্লগারদের সমন্বয়ে গঠিত একটি নির্বাচক প্যানেলের কাছে পাঠানো হয়। তাঁরা একমাস ধরে যাচাই-বাছাই শেষে মোট ২২টি গল্প চূড়ান্ত করেন, যা স্থান পেয়েছে সংকলনে।
বইটির মূল্য রাখা হয়েছে ১০০ টাকা। "বিক্রিলব্ধ সমুদয় অর্থ ব্লগের নানা উদ্যোগ, ক্যাম্পেইন, মানবিক কর্মকান্ড ইত্যাদিতে ব্যয় করা হবে।
Many of us have the idea how freedom of opinions in an open public media can be. But is it possible to publish (meaningful) literature - prose, poetry and fictions in an open media? To search for the answer we have published collections of blog posts titled Opor Bastob in 2007 & 2008.
In November 2008, we have sought articles by the bloggers. After more than a month of nominating the articles by readers and bloggers they were sent to a selection panel. The panel had selected 22 stories after a month long scrutiny and these were published in the collection of stories.
The price of the book is 100 Taka ($1.45). All proceeds will go to different blog related activities like campaigns, social causes etc.
অনেকেই মনে করেন ব্লগিং মানেই সময় নষ্ট। বইটা তাদের কিনে পড়া উচিৎ।
Many think that blogging means time pass. They should buy this book and read (to realize the truth).
২০০৮ এ ব্লগারদের বই বোধহয় বের হয়েছিল ৭/৮। ২০০৯ এ তো মনে হইতেছে পুরা বইমেলা দখল কইরা নিছে ব্লগাররা। ৫০ টার মত বই! গ্রেট!
In 2008 only about 7 or 8 books were published by bloggers. In 2009 it seems the bloggers have invaded the book fair. About 50 books. great!
এবারের বইমেলা আমার জন্য অন্যরকম৷ অন্যরকম এই কারণে যে এবারই প্রথম আমি মেলায় লেখক হিসেবে এলাম৷ এর আগে কতবার মেলায় এসেছি পাঠক হিসেবে৷
This year's (Ekushey) Book Fair is different for me. Because I emerged as a writer this time. I used to come to the fair only as a reader in the past.
আজকে বইমেলায় গিয়েছি। ..বইকেনার মূহুর্তগুলো খুব উপভোগ করি।
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এই আনন্দ, এই সুখানুভূতির প্রকাশ ঘটানোর জন্য তাই ব্লগে বসলাম।
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ব্লগার বন্ধুদের বই কিনিনি আজ। অফিস থেকে যখন বেরিয়েছিলাম তখন বইয়ের লিস্টটা নিয়ে বের হইনি। পরেরবার প্রথম তালিকাটা ব্লগারদের জন্য বরাদ্ধ থাকবে।
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Today I was at the Book Fair. I enjoy the moments when I buy books.
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I am blogging to share my excitements of buying new books.
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I could not buy the books of the blogger friends because I left the list at the office. I promise the next day their books will be the first priority.
প্রকাশক ফোন করে জানালেন আজ বইমেলায় চলে এসেছে আমার গল্পের বই --তথাপি।
ইস ! নিজে এখনো দেখলাম না।
কাল ইনশাল্লাহ যাব মেলায়।
The Publisher called me to inform that my story book "Tathapi" has been published and is now available at the (Ekushey) Book Fair. Ah.. I haven't seen it! Tomorrow will go to the fair.
আজ বইমেলায় ব্লগারদের বিশাল মহামিলন ঘটবে। সচলায়তন,সা.ইন,আমার ব্লগ এবং প্রথমআলো ব্লগের ব্লগাররা মিলিত হবেন ১৯২নং স্টলের সামনে। আজ অনেক ব্লগারের বই বের হবে। ঢাকার বাহিরের অনেক ব্লগারই আসবেন আজ।<
Today there will be huge gathering of the bloggers in the book fair. The bloggers of Sachalayatan, Somewherein Blog, Amar Blog and Prothom Alo Blog will meet in front of stall no. 192. Today many books of bloggers will be published. Many bloggers will come from outside of Dhaka.
This year Global Voices presents a terrific idea to celebrate Valentine's Day:
Blogging brings joy, happiness and new friends to millions of people. Bloggers in our community have already pledged to teach their friends and loved ones, and will be writing about it in their own blogs on Valentines Day. You can sign it too…More in Global Voices
Think for a moment about the people in your life. Share this gift with you family, friends, readers and sweethearts - and tell us how it went!
Love is communication
Here are four simple steps to join us on Valentine's Day.
Step 1: You're never alone with a blog. Tell your readers why you love them, and why they should love you.
Step 2: Teach someone you love to blog (or micro-blog!).
Step 3: Link to their first blog post, and encourage readers to visit them. Use this tag: #SMK [social media kisses]
Step 4: Tag your blogging friends to take part in this meme.
A farmer from north Bangladesh has been named the country's top rat killer after disposing of 39,650 rodents over the course of a year.
Binoy Kumar Karmakar, 40, won a 14in (36cm) colour TV in the government-backed competition to find the most prolific rat killer.
He used traps, poison and flooding to kill his quarry. He collected their tails as proof of his prowess.
His kill-rate was equivalent to one every 13 minutes, officials say.
A random vagabond is using the street the voice his opinions (would he like to blog, given the opportunity?)
On the way to the book fair after the security check through a metal detector arch. Hell of a lot of work for the security personnel to screen all those people.
Imperialism: stunning photo collage at Chobi Mela.
Statue of Swaraswati, the Hindu goddes at Jagannath Hall field at Dhaka University. Each department made different statues which were fine in details and great to watch.
Innovative statue of Swaraswati, the Hindu goddes at Jagannath Hall pond.
Chinese Kite Festival at Charukala Institute
The kites were in all shapes and forms and very colorful
Used books on display for sale on the walls of Charukala Institute
Some rare glimpses of green in the ever transforming Dhaka
Chobi Mela V at National Museum
Overflow of people on to the street from a mosque during Juma prayer on Friday.