Bangladesh’s opposition BNP has announced that, if voted into power, it will restore the historic name BDR (Bangladesh Rifles) for the country’s border force a name deeply tied to the Liberation War and replaced after the 2009 Pilkhana massacre.
BNP chairperson Tarique Rahman made the declaration at an event titled “Unwavering Trust in Independence and Sovereignty” held at Dhaka’s Radisson Blu Hotel, attended by former armed forces members and their families.
Proposal for a national day marking the Pilkhana tragedy
Rahman said the party would also consult the Bangladesh Army on designating February 25 the day of the Pilkhana killings as a national day of remembrance. Possible titles include “Shaheed Sena Day,” “Army Massacre Day,” or “National Mourning Day.”
He argued that the renaming of BDR to BGB and the change of uniform after the tragedy had erased a part of the nation’s wartime heritage. If elected, he said, the BNP would restore the force’s Liberation War-linked identity.
Reforms and recommendations from former senior officers
Rahman noted that several retired senior military officers had submitted proposals, including forming a National Security Council and reforming certain provisions of the Army Act.
He pledged that, if the BNP forms government, a committee comprising both former and current military personnel would be created to review these recommendations and develop an implementation plan.
Personal reflections and emphasis on a strong military
Rahman spoke emotionally about his own ties to the armed forces growing up in cantonments, losing his father at a young age, and witnessing his mother Khaleda Zia’s trust in the military.
He described the army as the “reliable guardian of the nation’s independence and sovereignty,” stressing that misusing the military for political purposes undermines its core mission.
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