British journalist David Bergman, in a post on Facebook on Sunday, said the inclusion of the 2009 BDR massacre in Pilkhana in the July Charter as an act of state atrocity by the toppled Awami League government.
In a reaction to the unofficial English version of the 27-page July Charter, he wrote, "They usurped the democratic and human rights of political opponents and critics, and through state-sponsored disappearances, killings, oppression-torture, lawsuits, and attacks, they established a reign of anarchy, terror, and fear. The BDR massacre at Pilkhana in 2009 and the killings at Shapla Chattar in Motijheel in 2013 are among the prime examples.
Whilst I do think that claiming that the Awami League established 'a reign of anarchy, terror, and fear' is exaggerated and that toned-down wording should be used, my concern here is not so much with that, but with the inclusion of the 'The BDR massacre at Pilkhana in 2009'."
He said he could not understand how that event was included in AL's reign of anarchy, terror and fear.
"I understand that there is speculation that somehow the AL government conspired to decapitate the army through the killing of the army officers, there is however, right now, no substantive evidence to support this contention. So how can the Charter include the BDR massacre in its list of state atrocities?"
He wrote there was clear demonstrable evidence of the "state-sponsored disappearances, killings, oppression-torture, lawsuits, and attacks" which the Charter mentions.
"So why spoil it by including the BDR massacre at Pilkhana in 2009, where at present the most the government can be accused of is mis-management rather than deliberate killing."
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