Sacked armed forces members blockade road
Sacked armed forces members blocked the road in front of Shaheed Jahangir Gate of Dhaka Cantonment in protest, pressing three-point demands including reinstatement in their jobs and reform of the judiciary. They were sacked and sent on compulsory retirement on charges of engaging in various indiscipline activities during the Awami League government. A sea of angry protesters, they came under the banner of Sahojoddha platform of dismissed armed forces members in yesterday’s morning. The agitated protesters were also accompanied by their family and relatives.
They began their sit-in programme on the road opposite Jahangir Gate around 8 am. Later, they obstructed Mohakhali road around 11:15 am and demonstrated. Due to that, severe traffic congestion took place in the adjacent areas including Jahangir Gate, Mohakhali, Banani, Tejgaon, Bijoy Sarani and the entrance and exit of the cantonment were blocked. The school-college and office-going people and the people going out for urgent needs faced immense sufferings.
Their demands are: Reinstatement in service with full salary, allowances, and other benefits from the time of dismissal. If reinstatement is not possible, then they should be included in full pension along with all the government benefits. The legal framework and the judicial system under which members of the armed forces have been dismissed must be reformed.
Later, at about 12:30 pm, a high-ranking delegation of the armed forces met with the protesting delegation. The protesters left the road after being assured by the armed forces of forming a council within five working days to discuss the demands at about 1 pm.
The protesters said though they had informed the three service chiefs including the interim government chief of the demands, they did not take any visible action to meet them. “So, we are observing a sit-in program along with our family members on three demands,” they said.
Chief Coordinator of ‘Sahojoddha’ Md. Naimul Islam said, “We were discharged or forced to retire on different false cases during the previous government’s regime. We lifted the blockade after receiving assurances from the armed forces. If the demands are not met, we will resume the sit-in program.”
Md. Abdul Hakim, Navy Coordinator, Sahojoddha said, “Around 350 officers and 600 soldiers were discharged and retired on various pretexts during the tenure of the previous government. Now they are passing inhumane lives. The military’s rules are that if someone is dismissed or retired, he cannot apply for reinstatement. This is a British law, we have appealed for the reform of the law.”
Tejgaon Police Station OC Mobarak Hossain said, some members of the former armed forces held a protest program from 11 am to 1 pm with multiple demands. As a result, traffic on this road was blocked. At around 1 pm, the protesters suspended their program after being assured by some army officers.
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