Reinstatement of dismissed armed forces members’ jobs demanded

A section of the dismissed armed forces members during the previous government demanded reinstatement of their jobs after a fair investigation.

They raised a 3-point demand at a press conference organised under the banner of 'Sahjoddha', a platform of the dismissed members of the armed forces, at the National Press Club in Dhaka on Wednesday.

Naimul Islam, chief coordinator of the platform, said that the previous Awami League government, in collaboration with some senior officers of the armed forces, abused power and dismissed hundreds of armed forces members.

They also deprived them of their due pensions and confined and tortured them inhumanly at 'Ayana Ghar', he said.

Naimul said that British martial law is still in force in the army, which is unacceptable. Under this law, the army personnel were dismissed from service at different periods, he added.

As the present interim government is reforming various sectors of the country, including the Constitution, the Bangladesh Armed Forces should also reform the British martial law, he said.

He said that it is a rule in the army that if any complaint is received by the wife of an army person without proper investigation, the person loses his job. Even if the wife later wants to withdraw her complaint, the superior army officials intimidate her and sack him.

Their other demands included reinstatement with full salary, allowances, and other benefits from the time of dismissal, if it is not possible to reinstate the members of the armed forces, then they should be covered by a full pension with all government facilities.

They also demanded that the legal framework and judicial system should be reformed, which has led to the dismissal of the hundreds of armed forces members.