Declare Feb 25 nat'l mourning day

February 25 should be declared a national mourning day to commemorate the barbaric killing of 57 brilliant army officers at the then BDR headquarters in Pilkhana in the capital, said speakers at a discussion yesterday.
A section of the then Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) staged a mutiny in Pilkhana on February 25-26 in 2009 and brutally killed 74 people, including the 57 officers.
National People's Party organised the discussion at Jatiya Press Club in the capital.
The officers were killed with a motive to destabilise the national security and the nation should observe the day as a national mourning day, said Shafiul Alam Prodhan, president of Jatiya Gonotantrik Party.
Maj Gen (retd) Syed Mohammad Ibrahim, chairman of Kalyan Party, said the perpetrators did not stop after killing the officers as they carried out barbaric torture on their families.
Sheikh Shawkat Hossain Nilu, president of National People's Party, chairing the discussion, made the same demand.
Jubo Dal President Moajjem Hossain Alal and National Democratic Party Chairman Khondker Golam Mortuza spoke at the discussion among others.