Author: Indrani Bagchi
Publication: The Times of India
Date: March 1, 2009
The first sign of a Pakistani footprint is
showing up in the bloody mutiny that shook Bangladesh this week. As mass graves
continue to spew forth more bloody tales-10 more bodies have been recovered,
bringing the toll to 76-what is emerging slowly is a larger design behind
the apparently senseless killing over the past couple of days.
Preliminary interrogations of some rebels
have thrown up the name of Salauddin Qadeer Chowdhury, a shipping magnate
reportedly close to the Pakistan military-intelligence establishment and the
opposition BNP. Sources say about one crore taka has already changed hands
to help the mutiny along.
Chowdhury, a close associate of opposition
BNP leader Begum Khaleda Zia, was closely connected to the 2004 Chittagong
arms drop, apparently intended for ULFA. The ships that were caught carrying
the arms were his.
Salauddin Chowdhury, who belongs to an old
Chittagong family, has been close to Pakistan for decades.
Trouble continues to brew in Dhaka, where
army cadres, particularly mid-level officers, are spoiling for a fight with
Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) cadres. So far, the country's army leaders, led by
army chief Moeen Ahmed, have kept officers in check, which makes the present
situation slightly different from that in 1975.
Fire service operations chief Sheikh Mohammad
Shahjalal said 50 officers were still missing. "We have removed 10 bodies.
They not only shot them dead but also mutilated some with bayonets,"
he added.
It's increasingly clear that the chief targets
are the army chief Moeen Ahmed and prime minister Sheikh Hasina who, reports
say, has been moved to an army guest house for her safety. A number of plots
are surfacing, all intended to create confusion while the real targets would
have been attacked.
Sources say the brutality of the murders reflect
radical Islamist ideologies among the lower cadres of the BDR, who have links
to Jamaat-e-Islami and Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh.
The mutiny may have been spurred by Hasina's
proposed war crimes tribunal to try Pakistani collaborators during the independence
war, which could embarrass the Pak army.
After the dust settles, Hasina and Ahmed may
launch a purge in the army, which could create its own tensions.
