Respect

25th February 2009 -- as brutal and as important a date as any other in our short and bloody history. BDR men going rogue, Army on the warpath, the civilian government caught flatfooted in the worst form of crisis. A lot has been said about all this, a lot has been written. But a lot is still left to be said. The investigation is going on, the head culprits still at large. The role of NSI and DGFI and other intelligence bodies in the nation still murky. Everything is murky. Nothing is clear. Everything is a shade of gray. 

Or is it?

One thing does stand out from that awful awful day. One thing and one thing only. The discipline and strength of character of the Army. The nation has already done the official mourning. But i agree with Film Director Faruqui who has said that the entire nation owes an apology to the army for thinking ill of them on the 25th. The media influenced the entire country to believe that the army men treated the BDR men badly, so badly that they couldn't take it anymore. And as usual, we immediately felt for the underdogs. It wasn't until 2 days later when all the dead bodies started floating up when we all realized the extent of the treachery, the butchery and the horror perpetrated by the BDR. 

And so we have the Hasina tapes on the Internet. Where the army shouts at our PM and accuses her. I thought they were surprisingly well controlled. And i thought Hasina handled herself rather well. Because the army had every reason to feel aggrieved. While the government tried to reach a solution that would entail minimum bloodshed, the BDR men went on a killing spree. Their victims - the army officers stationed inside the camp. And yet, and yet the army maintained its discipline. They respected the will of the elected government. They gave meaning to honor and sacrifice. 

In the end, their honor and sacrifice will not bring back the dead. Will not console the families of the dead. will not lessen their feeling of guilt. Guilt at standing by and doing nothing while their brothers were being slaughtered. But that was the need of the hour. That was the choice, the dreaded decision, the devil's alternative. For the nation to survive, the army sacrificed their own. 

And in the process earned a nation's undying respect. 

(picture copyright 300)