POBNEWS24, Dhaka Aug 4, 2024 : The former army officers demanded that the armed forces should be taken back to the army camp immediately. They said, in no way should the patriotic armed forces take responsibility for such a situation. The armed forces of Bangladesh have never faced the countrymen or the common people in the past, never pointed a gun at their chest. They said that at present, the armed forces should be immediately brought back to the army camp and kept ready to face any emergency crisis. Please take the initiative to solve this crisis through dialogue. Do not pit the patriotic armed forces against the student mob. These things were said in the press conference organized in the hall of the Retired Armed Forces Officers Welfare Association (Rawa Club) this afternoon. Former Army Chief General Iqbal Karim Bhuiyan read out a statement on behalf of former military officers at the event. However, no questions from journalists were taken at the event. 48 former army officers including former army chief Lt. Gen. Nur Uddin Khan were present at the time.
What the statement says
In the statement General Iqbal Karim Bhuiyan said, I am presenting this statement on behalf of all with the permission of the oldest senior present here.
We are deeply concerned, shocked and saddened by the incidents of killings, torture, disappearances and mass arrests that have been going on all over the country for the past three weeks. Thousands of teenagers have died prematurely. Today I cannot think of myself as a parent without responsibility. Therefore, we have appeared before the countrymen in the pursuit of conscience. I pray for the forgiveness of the souls of all the martyrs of this anti-discrimination struggle. It has been said that ending discrimination, discrimination and oppression was the pledge of the 1971 Liberation War. Instead of that, on the contrary, these have spread terribly at all levels of the country today. The economic condition and mismanagement of Bangladesh has gone beyond the tolerance of the majority of people who are at the bottom of the society. To remedy this situation, people today are not shying away from self-sacrifice.
It is said in the statement that the countrymen saw the beginning of the quota reform movement. None of this is to be erased from human memory. The first party i.e. the students were carrying out their movement peacefully. Children, teenagers and young people from all over the country were patiently moving forward with discipline and law despite hundreds of provocations, attacks and torture. On the other hand, the second party who instigated the above, carried out terror with goons and pandas, and brought down the police, RAB, Ansar and BGB, flew helicopters in the sky, shot indiscriminately and killed countless children, teenagers and young people. This will be forgotten in no time.
It is said that if the attackers were forced to retreat in the face of the resistance of the mass movement, the Bangladesh Armed Forces were used at the next stage. By using them as a shield, sometimes standing at the front and sometimes at the back and sides, the other forces are continuing their oppression, torture and torture on this mass movement. In no way should the patriotic armed forces take responsibility for such a situation. The armed forces of Bangladesh have never faced the countrymen or the common people in the past, never pointed a gun at their chest.
He said, I request you to take the initiative to solve this crisis through dialogue. Do not pit the patriotic armed forces against the student mob.
