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Published : 01 Dec 2025, 01:02 AM
Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus has said members of the armed forces who faced “discrimination and oppression” under the ousted Awami League government will receive justice, like other government employees.
He made the remarks during a ceremony at the State Guest House Jamuna on Sunday.
The chief advisor was handed over a report reviewing applications from “deprived” military personnel under the previous government by a committee tasked to examine cases of retired and dismissed officers who experienced “discrimination, deprivation, injustice, and retaliation” in the Army, Navy, and Air Force between 2009 and 2024.
The committee, formed after the interim government took charge following the July Uprising, also provided recommendations.
The committee’s report was handed to Yunus by its head retired lieutenant general Abdul Hafiz, special assistant to the chief advisor on defence and national integration, the Chief Advisor’s Office (CAO) said in a media statement.
Yunus said, “When I assigned you to do this work, I thought there might be some minor irregularities, but the complete picture presented is truly horrific.”
The committee received 733 complaints, of which 405 were accepted.
It recommended 114 applications, 24 were outside its mandate, and 99 involved disciplinary violations, remission of sentences, and moral lapses in the applicants.
Hafiz said the committee first met on Aug 19 and asked deprived officers to submit applications by Sept 21 via the Central Officers' Record Office (CORO), Inter Services Public Relation Directorate (ISPR), Retired Armed Forces Officers' Welfare Association (RAOWA), WhatsApp messages, print and electronic media, and TV scrolls.
With few exceptions, no moral turpitude punishments were recorded against those recommended by their respective force boards, and the committee made positive recommendations based on dossiers and interviews, the statement added.
He said the committee verified the deprivations by interviewing affected officers and, in some cases, consulting their commanders and senior officers by phone.
The committee found six officers were illegally detained for up to eight years due to relatives’ political ties or alleged militancy, including a retired officer killed in a militant attack, whose wife was imprisoned twice with her infant.
Five officers were tortured and falsely implicated in a fabricated case following the 2009 BDR massacre on Feb 25, 2009, leading to dismissal, while four lieutenants were unfairly removed for religious observance or alleged group affiliation, the statement added.
In total, 28 officers faced illegal detention, brutal physical and mental torture, social humiliation, and financial losses despite following official policies.
The committee recommended relief for 125 officers from the Army, 51 from the Navy, and 25 from the Air Force who were deprived and discriminated against in the armed forces.
For 114 Army officers, it suggested normal retirement, promotion, pre-retirement promotion, arrears of pay and allowances, and ancillary benefits, with four to be reinstated in service.
For 19 Navy officers and 12 Air Force officers, similar recommendations were made where applicable, including retirement benefits, promotions, arrears, and allowances.
