The Director General of the BGB, Major General Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui, claimed that there was pressure on the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) to play the role of the police in the anti-discrimination student movement.
He said this in response to a question from journalists at a press conference on overall security issues organized by the BGB headquarters on Thursday (October 3).
The Director General of the BGB said, I have to answer why the BGB is not able to play the role played by the police in the movement. I can't say for sure if I would still be here if things hadn't changed. Being the head of a government force, it is difficult to disobey direct orders. You know the situation. If I disobey the government's order, can you or I guarantee that I will be able to return to work? But in many cases we have been denied. Again, I cannot guarantee whether I would have stayed here (BGB) if the situation had not changed.
The BGB Director General said that on August 5, many students brought sweets to the gate of BGB. If the BGB was not at arms over the APC. Normally there is an LMP or light machine gun. Many injured in Dhaka Medical College Hospital. As the number of injured increased, we brought many from there to BGB Hospital and treated them. Eight of them are still under treatment. BGB is paying all their expenses.
BGB DG said, when the mass arrest process started at the end of July, the instruction was to participate in the arrest process. But BGB did not arrest a single person. I said, BGB is not trained and prepared for arrest operations.
He said, like RAB, BGB was also asked to use helicopters to suppress student agitation. BGB helicopters were not used even for a single day during the agitation. Due to the overall situation, there was no opportunity to say or clarify these things. Our commanders know how we performed our duty then, what kind of pressure was there.
BGB DG said, still one or two incidents happened. A battalion commanding officer is firing. He was removed from the BGB in that incident. He was not only made OSD, departmental investigation against him and recommended the highest penalty. The colonel rank officer has been sent back to the force. To be implemented under the army. While investigating, I found out that there was a major with him. He didn't shoot though. But he showed fear. We are also bringing him under some punishment.
BGB DG Major General Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui claimed that in many cases, BGB has not been deployed in many places, but BGB has been talked about. A rickshaw puller said his son died in BGB firing. We inquired and gave him a grant, asking if he had seen it himself? He said, I have not seen.
He also said that if it is proved that something has happened in the hands of BGB or someone has died in the movement, then whatever needs to be done will be done to ensure the justice. We are not only saying this to you, we have also said the same to the various inquiry commissions formed by the interim government.
On August 5, the BGB was tasked with providing security at 14 entry points in Dhaka. So that students from outside cannot enter Dhaka because there was a program to surround the Ganabhaban that day. I did not get the order from one place, the highest place in the country, the minister, the senior person, I am not naming them, they put us under pressure and sent it to 14 places. 80/90 people were deployed at 14 places including Tongi, Jatrabari, Shanir Akhra, Postogola, Ashulia.
At noon on August 5, I learned that 10 to 15 thousand students are coming to each entry point. I said move away because there is no need to guard the students. If you do that, the number of casualties will increase. This is how we performed our duties. Now the BGB is working with joint forces to provide security to Pooja mandops. Apart from this, 9 infantry division of Gazipur is working in the security of Ashulia industrial area, he said.
Why are you saying that you were forced to work during the previous government? Did you tell the government at that time that you cannot work to suppress or resist the student movement? In response, the Director General of BGB said that it is difficult to directly say such things as the head of a force. To be honest, you know different situations. If I refuse or disobey such an order, can you or I guarantee that I will be able to return to my workplace or not? But in many cases we have been denied. For example, we did not go for mass arrests.