::1 year of AL-led government::

The mutiny and massacre inside the BDR Pilkhana HQ on February 25-26 gave the new Awami League-led grand alliance government that nightmare and put it in such a vulnerable state that it became the prime issue of concern for the government to survive.

Despite widespread debates over the methods of tackling the sudden crisis, the government successfully quelled the mutiny before the situation aggravates further in the HQ and other barracks of the paramilitary force without military intervention.

The government dealt the crisis politically though there were strong debates why army was not engaged to quell the heinous incidents at the very first hours.

But the role of the law-enforcement agencies drew severe flak when over 7,000 mutineers fled despite a huge number of law enforcers standing on guard around the BDR HQ.

Though almost all the absconding BDR personnel returned to their barracks in response to the government call, 23 mutineers are still on the run.

The mutiny also created crisis in several fronts of the government, especially in the defence and political ones.

Primarily, besides overcoming all the criticism about the steps taken in tackling the mutiny, it was another challenge for the government to earn the confidence at home and abroad for its actions, especially to ensure a stable situation for the government and the country as well.

The unprecedented BDR mutiny, which killed 74 people, created a crisis inside the military as 57 of the total dead were top and mid-ranked officers who were serving in BDR in deputation.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina after quelling the 33-hour-long mutiny addressed an unprecedented Darbar (grand conference) of army at the Dhaka Cantonment that contributed to ease the suffocating situation brewing inside the force.

Though debates continued in the months following the mutiny over many actions of the government, army and law-enforcement agencies, the steps taken by the new government and by the prime minister herself were praised by different sections of the country and international community.

The dreadful memory of the BDR carnage, which not only spread across the country but also created room for apprehension of a possible civil war, still shines with many questions unanswered, especially about its original reasons and motives.

It was not possible to believe that the most-discussed nightmarish incident in the first year of a new government was merely a mutiny by soldiers of the paramilitary force for their small requirements.

The same sense also echoed officially by the national probe committee on the carnage that said in its report, "The genuine reasons and motives behind the barbaric incident could not be established beyond doubt."

The main conspirators may have used the small causes of BDR soldiers to instigate this incident, they themselves working from behind the curtain to destabilise the nation, observed the probe committee. It also made a recommendation: "The committee feels that further investigation is required to unearth the real cause behind the incident."

The legal issue to try the mutineers has now become another challenge for the government. But the government's move to meet the demand of trial of mutineers has been settled quickly after obtaining opinion from the Supreme Court. And at least the trial under the BDR Act for the mutiny has already started.

The criminal investigation for the trial under the civil law for the carnage has not yet completed, but a CID official said they are trying to submit the charge sheet within one year of the mutiny.

Holding credible trials for the Pilkhana carnage and mutiny would be a long-standing challenge for the government.

Though the BDR reforms including formulating new laws for the border guards and changing the name and uniform are underway, no initiative has been seen yet to unearth the real cause and motive behind the gruesome killings and resolve the unanswered questions.