For various reasons there is a sense of dissatisfaction prevailing in the minds of many as the committee failed to ascertain the actual motive behind such a heinous act after having worked for three long months. Questions were raised from the very beginning about the formation of the first investigation committee and due to that a new committee was constituted headed by Mr. Anisuzzaman Khan, a retired civil servant. The limited terms of reference given to the Committee and the Committee’s asking for extension of time for several times again gave rise to various questions and doubts among the people in general. Now that the Committee itself is admitting that due to limitations it could not find the definite reason behind the massacre surely the Committee’s credibility may be called into question.

However, The Committee has made certain recommendations based on its findings though it has not been able to detect the real reason and the perpetrators behind the carnage. The first among them is that the accused should be tried under the Army Act for speedy disposal of the cases and to ensure exemplary punishment to the perpetrators. That is where we have reasons to be concerned. We too are keen to see justice is done in this atrocious act of crime and that the culprits are given exemplary punishment. But at the same time we also want to see transparency in the process and that the real reason comes out through that process. Our motivation here to see justice prevails and that is why, according to our opinion, the perpetrators should not be tried under the Army Act. It may be mentioned here that according to Section 85 of the Army Act 1952, the General Court Martial constitutes of 5 members and Section 86 states that the District Court Martial constitutes of 3 members, all of which are Army officers in service. It is to be noted that on the one hand the Investigation Committee is saying that one of the reasons behind the incident is ‘mentality in the BDR personnel the unwillingness to accept Army hegemony’ and on the other hand it is recommending a trial process where all the judges will be from the same army. The prospect of fair trial, therefore, remains highly questionable.

Moreover, as Section 133 of the Army Act states that no appeal shall lie against the decision of the Court Martial, Article 31 of the Constitution guaranteeing equality of all the citizens before law will grossly be violated here.

At present it is the CID who are investigating the case under the existing law of the land. Under this law every individual will only be responsible for the act committed by him. But it is entirely different from what is provided in Section 31 of the Army Act. There it is said that even if an individual is not responsible for any particular act but is supposed to have known about the occurrence and has not taken adequate measure to inform the concerned higher authority would be held equally responsible for that crime, the highest punishment for which is death or whatever punishment is deemed to be just by the judges concerned. As a human rights organisation our anxiety relates to the question whether the accused under the Army Act will get fair justice.

The Pilkhana incident is no doubt a ruthless massacre which has drowned the whole nation under the sea of mourning but the serial ‘unnatural death’ of the BDR soldiers and the arrest of thousands of them, the insecurity in which the families of these BDR soldiers are having to live at present, the confusion with the numbers of arrested and absconding soldiers are no less unnerving for the nation. We hope, the persons engaged in the crime will be tried fairly and be punished according to the gravity of their involvement and that no innocent person will be a victim of any kind of revenge or intrigue.

We often hear the saying that Justice delayed is justice denied but we also must remember there is a saying too that Justice hurried is justice buried.