Massacre at Pilkhana
How can we call ourselves a civilized nation when 100 people are herded together, shot and their bodies burned.
Twenty years ago a girl was left to cry for two hours beside a crashed car before she was rescued in a tunnel in Italy as motorists swished by. We could take cue from the outrage and shame that Italians demonstrated against their insensitive behaviour. We lack the moral fibre of the Vietnamese monks dousing their bodies with petrol and immolating themselves on the Hanoi streets, but every Bangladesh citizen could in atonement go out to the public square of their respective places of residence and do “nakey-khat” because some of us became less than human beings during those two days.
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The mind-boggling killing of valiant army officers has created a sense of mourning in the air. People from home and abroad have stood aghast at the extent of the barbarity. We have no words to express our outage, anger and disgust at the mindless bloodshed in the name of mutiny.
What on earth made the army officers being killed so inhumanely?
Is it merely a BDR mutiny stemming from grievances?
Going by the events of February 25 doubts are creeping into our minds whether there was any involvement of extraneous forces which is a deep-rooted conspiracy against our sovereignty damaging the major elements of our defence capability-- the army and the BDR.
As to the incident, our political leaders have, yet again, started trading blame. They are, as usual, trying to capitalise on a grave catastrophe. Shame on our politicians!
Behold! It is a national crisis. It is a threat to our sovereignty. Stop pointing accusing finger at each other. Let us stand united to face the problems and help overcome the loss of our defence capability.
We pray for the salvation of the martyrs' souls and hope that the Almighty will grant them eternal peace.
Asir Faisal, Shah Amanath Housing Society Sholokbahar, Chittagong
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