No Scope to Reinstate 8,796 Dismissed BDR Members

Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed has said there is no scope to reinstate 8,796 members of the then Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) who were dismissed or sent into compulsory retirement following the 2009 Pilkhana carnage.

Of the 8,796 members, 6,286 were dismissed from service while 2,510 were sent into compulsory retirement following the mutiny and killings at the BDR headquarters in Pilkhana, Dhaka.

The Home Minister made the statement on Thursday in response to a question from Gaibandha-5 lawmaker Md Abdul Wares during the question-answer session of Parliament, chaired by Deputy Speaker Kaisar Kamal.

Salahuddin said the punishments were imposed following due legal procedures and that no innocent BDR member had been dismissed from service.

“As the punishments were imposed following legal procedures, there is no scope to reinstate those who were dismissed,” he said.

He also said there was no scope to reinstate dismissed BDR members who had been accused in murder and explosives cases.

Following the fall of the Awami League government on August 5, 2024, dismissed BDR members demanded reinstatement with compensation, claiming they had been victims of a conspiracy during the 2009 incident. They also staged protests in Dhaka during the interim government.

The BDR mutiny took place on February 25 and 26, 2009, at the force's headquarters in Pilkhana, about two months after the Awami League government took office.

A total of 74 people, including 57 army officers, were killed during the two-day violence. Following the incident, the Bangladesh Rifles was renamed Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), and changes were also made to the force's uniform and structure.