Retired Major General ALM Fazlur Rahman, chairman of the independent investigation commission formed to investigate the BDR killings, has said that the domestic and foreign conspiracies involved in the BDR killings will be presented to the nation in a neutral and unbiased manner, without any influence.
He told reporters after the first meeting of the commission at the conference room of the Dhaka Battalion (5 BGB) at the BGB headquarters on Thursday (December 26) morning.
Former Director General of BDR ALM Fazlur Rahman said, we will not be influenced in any way. Since this is a national problem. There has never been such an incident in a thousand years that so many people have been killed in a short time. I want to inform the countrymen that we will take note of all those who were tortured and killed after the BDR mutiny. At the same time, we will try to heal their wounds with sincerity. We should not raise any questions after our work is done. We will be vigilant in this regard.
He said, "My request to the media is that you should promote our statement positively. Otherwise, the national objective may be disrupted. Today we had our first meeting. We got acquainted. There was a discussion on how we will work. We have to write some letters. We have informed the Home Ministry that we need to be given secretarial facilities. We need to be given an office. Today we cloned with the BGB Director General. He received us warmly. He gave us an office of the 5th Rifle Battalion to carry out our work." The former BDR DG said, "We have identified several issues. This is not like other commissions. This is a different kind of commission where we have been given the responsibility of identifying domestic and foreign conspiracies. We have asked for some additional issues, among which we have asked for personal and family security, transportation facilities, secretarial facilities and an office. The rank of the chairman of this commission should be equal to that of an adviser because he has to discuss with domestic and foreign people. So we can work with equal dignity." In addition, we have asked for the status of judges of the Supreme Court's Appellate Division for other members of the commission. Only after all these are in place will we start holding the next meetings and interviews. After each meeting, we will inform the countrymen about the issues that should be reported. We do not want to keep anyone in the dark.
When asked about the trial process, the commission head said, "We have asked for the involvement of four local and foreign legal experts. It would be better if we get a civil law expert from Bangladesh, a military and an international expert. We will ask two of them to be involved from Bangladesh. And since the foreign power has to be identified, the matter has become international. Therefore, we will apply to involve two criminal and international law experts."
Immediately after the commission was formed, a former BGB director general tried to leave the country. He was involved in various things before and after the BDR mutiny, including the investigation, in response to a question about whether he would be banned from leaving the country, he said, "We will discuss with the commission members. If we think that he needs to stay in the country for the sake of the investigation and the country, then we will take that decision."
When asked whether any country was involved in the BDR mutiny, he said, "We do not want to identify any country. We want to proceed impartially and impartially. In doing so, we will give our opinion only when there is documentary evidence that those responsible are responsible. Since there is talk of domestic and foreign conspiracies, those who are on our side will face questions from this commission. Besides, as you know, many people have fled the country after the August 5 revolution. We will contact all the countries they have gone to through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. If not, then we will send a team to that country to make statements."