Staff Reporter :
The nation Tuesday paid rich tributes to the martyred army officers killed in Pilkhana tragedy, five years ago.
At least 75 people, 57 of them army officers, mostly on deputation to the then Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), later renamed Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), lost their lives in the 36-hour mutiny by the soldiers on February 25, 2009 and following day.
As the day was the fifth anniversary of the incident, tributes to the martyrs were being paid by their family members, BGB, the army and the government high-ups.
The representatives of President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina along with Home Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, the chiefs of three services, senior secretary of Home Affairs Ministry and BGB Director General placed wreaths at the memorial of the slain army officers at Banani graveyard in the morning.
A doa-mahfil was held at Fazlur Rahman Khandaker Auditorium at Pilkhana, BGB headquarters, at 4:30 pm yesterday.
Besides, special prayers held throughout the region in mosques and also in the institutions and units of BGB and its BOPs, seeking divine blessing for their departed souls.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina handed over cheques meant to help the families of army officers killed in the BDR mutiny.
She gave a cheque of Tk 480,000 to each family of the slain officers for the sixth year (current year) at a simple ceremony at her office on Tuesday morning.
Bangladesh Association of Banks (BAB) has been providing the monetary aid since 2009 and it will continue doing do till 2018.
It has already given Tk 140 million to the affected families for the years 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013.
After the tragic incident, several steps were taken at Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s behest including the sanctioning of immediate financial assistance to the families of the killed army officers from the Prime Minister’s Relief and Welfare Fund, the Army Welfare Fund and the BGB Welfare Fund.
Arrangement for housing has been made for the members of such families in the Army Officers’ Residential areas.
Later, interest on housing loan was waived families of 15 slain officers. Besides, the interest of Trust Bank loan of 25 martyred officers was also waived in 2009.
The government has provided jobs to 33 members of the martyred families. Of them, three are working in Bangladesh missions abroad. Plots have been allocated for the family members of 37 martyred officers at Mirpur DOHS (Defense Officers Housing Society), while the construction work of two well- furnished flats for each of 10 slain officers is going on at the same place. DOHS and RAJUK plots had been given to 11 martyred officers before the tragic incident. Family members of 42 martyred officers were allocated houses temporarily inside various cantonments.
As per the service rules of the Armed Forces, grants from the welfare fund, Family Security Scheme, DSOP Fund, and cash instead of leave were given, while monthly pension is being provided regularly. Arrangements were also made to admit 89 children of those families to different educational institutes, including 10 to cadet colleges with the minimum or without tuition fees.
Supervision and assistance for the affected family members, introduced by the Army Welfare Trust after the incident, are still continuing. The Prime Minister’s Security Adviser Maj Gen (Retd) Tarique Ahmed Siddique, Chief of Army Staff General Iqbal Karim Bhuiyan, BAB President Nazrul Islam Majumder and high civil and military officials were present on the occasion. After the handing over of cheques, a ‘munajat’ or special prayer was offered, seeking divine blessings for the martyred army officers. Later, the Prime Minister spoke to the relatives of the martyred officers.
