Shoddy Journalism with Peel Khana Massacre

As an outside observer who has been watching events in Bangladesh from the USA for the past three decades, I was in a precarious position to find myself in Bangladesh when the Peel Khana massacre took place. I say precarious because I am afraid if the government had taken the path of military confrontation, something that was suggested by (Retd.) Maj. Gen. Mir Shawkat Ali, I believe the potential for a high death toll was very high. Mind that the military action would have turned into what is commonly called in Marxism, a class struggle -- between the Army (the haves) and the BDR (the have-nots). The fight would not have remained confined within some culprit elements of the BDR (irrespective of whether or not they were truly from inside or outside) but all the BDR jawans - some 50,000 strong -- not just those 7,000 confined inside the HQ at the time but also those stationed outside in all the camps and border postings, who would have taken arms to kill their commanding officers everywhere. Truly, it is never easy to bring down such rebels without risking lives of too many, esp. when the HQ itself is located within the heart of the capital city, and the event being watched by too many bystanders - the so-called hujuge Bangladeshis. Worse still the unfolding scenario could have led to the fall of the civilian government, putting the nation into an uncertain future.

Suffice it to say that it was a shocking experience to me. Too many folks that I had come to know over the last 40 years died in that sad event. Many of them were brilliant and honest officers, a combination that is rare in today's Bangladesh! Just like any accidental death, all of them were at the wrong place at the wrong time! Destiny took some of them there to be slaughtered like lambs. Their murder is sickening and despicable. It once again shows how terrible human beings can be when they go violent and lose their mind.

I am saddened to see the slow progress in investigation to finding the root cause(s) and the culprits. With every passing day, such delays are only allowing our people to lend their ears to gossips and rumors, mostly spread by people that have no love either for Bangladesh or its people. In this age of the Internet, rumors multiply too fast! Charlatans are trying to fill the communication vacuum to sell their 'expertise' with a plethora of possibilities and innuendos. Interestingly, some of these outside 'experts' seem to know more than our internal experts, which makes us all wonder about the veracity of the stories that they feed! People are getting confused. They don't know what to believe and whom to believe. It is thus important that the findings of various intelligence services and CID groups are disclosed to arrest such rumors and let people know the truth, and not convenient lies or misinformation.

Sumon Chakroborty's (CNN) assertion that most senior Army officers were against the transfer of authority to a civilian administration, elected by people, belies the truth - the ground reality. Outside a mere handful, including an ambitious general who has since been made an ambassador, most of the senior ranking army officers had little to do with the affairs of the Caretaker government, nor did they crave for prolonging the regime's life. They surely did not want a repeat of the Ershad era.

As to the investigation on the Peel Khana massacre, my personal observation is that from the very beginning there was an attempt by a certain quarter to remove some highly qualified individuals from the investigation. How much of such replacements owed it to the claim that they had served the interest of previous political or military government, and as such, by default could not be trusted with such a sensitive case, I am not sure; I am, however, inclined to think that the culture of jealousy that is so rampant within various government organizations is partially to be blamed for such replacements of key figures. When all the media play the same tune, in a democratic system it is often too difficult for any elected govt. to ignore their thesis. It seems that the AL govt. fell for such a trap. It is so sickening now to find that the same media that had once made such a hue and cry about appointment of those individuals early on in the aftermath of the massacre and were able to force their replacement by the government are now questioning whether they would get the real truth ever. Whose interest is our print media protecting? I don't know, but their integrity is wanting and much to be desired. Some are even feeding info from known enemies of our people simply because their thesis agrees with their polarized views! That is travesty of journalism!

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