Take the army back to the barracks: Retired army officers

Former army officialssaid that ‘initiatives have been taken to militarise the political crisis,’ and protested the move, as well as called for taking the army back to the barracks.

The former officials made the call at a press conference at the auditorium of the Retired Armed Forces Officers Welfare Association (RAOWA) in the capital’s Mohakhali on Sunday, on how to resolve the existing crisis. Former army chief Iqbal Karim Bhuiyan presented the keynote at the briefing.

Iqbal Karim Bhuiyan said, had the policymakers of the country not lost their sanity, conscience and soul, the massive tragedy of these killings would not have happened in the history of Bangladesh. Numerous people were crippled in these attacks, counter attacks and assaults. Many teenagers and youth lost their eyesight. Helpless citizens are not receiving necessary and emergency treatment. On top of that, homes and messes are being marked by terrorists and block raids are being launched to detain people through these raids. Thousands of innocent teenage boys and girls and youth are being arrested in false cases or at large.

At the beginning, six senior retired defence officers including Brigadier General (retired) Md Sakhawat Hossain, and Brigadier General (retired) Shahedul Anam addressed the event. Former army chief Lieutenant General (retired) Nuruddin Khan was also present.

Addressing the press conference, Iqbal Karim Bhuiyan said, "The commitment of the liberation war was to abolish discrimination, division and oppression. Instead, all this has spread dangerously at all levels of the country today. The tolerance of the majority of people from the lower levels of society has gone beyond the limit. Our economic situation and management are very fragile, which is why people are not hesitating to make sacrifices for a way our. If transparency, justice and credibility are not established by punishing those who are responsible for bringing the country's people to such a predicament, it will not be possible to restore peace, law and order, and trust in society.”