Family members and relatives of dismissed members of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), formerly known as the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), staged a protest at the Shahbagh roundabout today.
They blocked the road to press for three key demands -- justice for the victims of the 2009 Pilkhana massacre, the reinstatement of dismissed personnel, and recognition of their grievances by the authorities.
The protest began around 1:45pm and was planned to last for an hour. Before the blockade, the protesters gathered at the Central Shaheed Minar, where they voiced their demands in a public meeting. Following this, they organised a procession from the Shaheed Minar to Shahbagh roundabout, where they initiated the road blockade.
The demonstrators expressed their frustration over what they perceive as a lack of justice for the events of the Pilkhana massacre, where dozens of army officers were brutally killed during a mutiny by the BDR personnel in 2009. Many of the dismissed members claim they were unfairly punished or removed without proper evidence linking them to the mutiny.
"We want justice for the innocent, both the victims of the massacre and those dismissed unfairly," a protester said during the blockade.
Yesterday, the protesters had warned of blocking the Shahbagh roundabout if their demands were not addressed during the hearing at the Metropolitan Special Tribunal-2 in Dhaka. They carried out the warning after finding no resolution in the tribunal proceedings earlier today.
Source: the daily star