Shakil Ahmed (general)
Director General of Bangladesh Rifles | |
|---|---|
| In office 19 February 2006 – 25 February 2009 | |
| President | |
| Prime Minister | |
| Preceded by | Jahangir Alam Chowdhury |
| Succeeded by | Md Mainul Islam |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 13 November 1957 Major General  |
| Unit | Regiment of Artillery |
| Commands |
|
| Battles/wars | Bangladesh Rifles revolt † |
Major General Shakil Ahmed was a
Career
He has twice commanded field artillery regiments of which one was active service in counter insurgency role. He was an assistant
He was the chief (director general) of the national paramilitary force
Death
The soldiers of the Bangladesh Rifles had grievances over their salaries, living conditions and greater opportunities for deployment in UN Peacekeeping Missions. A day before the event on 25 February 2009, the disgruntled soldiers met General Ahmed and some of his commanders and urged them to raise their grievances with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at or after the function. Despite repeated attempts by General Ahmed to the civilian government to improve the living standard of the soldiers. General Ahmed has also raised the grievances on an interview in Channel I on 22 February.[3]
Events
On 25 February, during the daily morning parade when Ahmed was taking the salutes, a soldier with a gun (stolen from the secured official stock) attempted to shoot the general. The soldier then hesitated, and due to nervousness fainted on the spot. General Ahmed asked his officers to get some water so that the soldier would wake up, without knowing what the soldiers were about to attempt. Meanwhile, some of the mutineers shouted out loud to wake up, and every soldier inside responded to the code which initiated the mutiny and left the Darbar hall ignoring commands from their senior officers to stay put. After a few minutes the soldiers started shooting at Darbar hall from outside the premises. General Ahmed asked for his private cellphone to call for help.[4] When the army officers inside Darbar hall sensed that reinforcements would not be arriving anytime soon despite repeated calls for help, the general's officers arranged a planned for an escape which was aimed at evacuating the general and other senior officers. However, Ahmed's response differed from the plan put forward by the subordinate officers. According to a number of surviving witnesses General Ahmed said I will not abandon my officers here, we must know why the soldiers are going for a mutiny despite everything we have done for them and as army officers stationed here it's our duty to prevent such a mutiny and those of you who fear death, remember it will come eventually and if we die today, remember that we die serving the nation. Finally the mutineers stopped shooting from outside and asked the officers inside to stand in a straight line and exit the Darbar hall, claiming that they would not be shot at. Ahmed ordered his men to walk behind him. He walked down the stage as asked by the soldiers and then suddenly four soldiers jumped out and fired four bullets at the officers, hitting the general in the process. Autopsy results showed that he was shot 6 times from close range.[5] According to some surviving officers, the general died on the spot. At the same time, some army officers tried to stop and resist the mutineers from shooting. The other officers escaped from the Darbar hall. Since the Darbar hall laws allowed no weapons to be carried inside, all the officers were unarmed, contributing to 57 army officer deaths.[6] The general's official bungalow in Pilkhana was ransacked, and his wife was also killed in the mutiny.[7]
See also
- 2009 Bangladesh Rifles revolt
References
- ^ "List of Former Director Generals". Border Guard Bangladesh. Archived from the original on 26 November 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
- ^ "BDR chief killed in hail of bullets". The Daily Star. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
- ^ "- YouTube" – via YouTube.
- ^ "Army officials lined up, killed". Priyo News. Archived from the original on 15 April 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
- ^ "Maj Gen Shakil Ahmed was shot six times". The Daily Star. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
- ^ "Betrayal and slaughter- BDR chief, wife killed". The Telegraph. Calcutta. 27 February 2009. Archived from the original on 1 March 2009.
- ^ Wade, Matt. "More than 1000 charged over mutiny". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 6 January 2016.