Wagalla Massacre: The Nightmare of an Activist

The year 1984 was a terrible year for us. The rains had failed and when we decided to move to the wells near Wajir town, the heat, the lack of pasture for the animals and the scarcity of food for people made any journey almost impossible. The journey was slow, the people and the animals moved from tree shade to tree shade and even the trees were so bare of leaves that the sun shone right through them. This is the time when I almost died of thirst twice. The day time my brother and I got lost in the bushes and we walked on until the sun was about to set. The thirst and the heat being so unbearable, we would have perished had we not been found. We were lucky we ran into our father who was trying to harvest wild gum Arabic trees so that he could have some to sell in town. The animals were useless in that weather so people were looking for anything of value to trade in so that they could buy food. The second time, my brother and I were herding livestock and it became extremely hot. We tried to keep cool by crawling under trees but nothing could help. Someone was to bring us some water to drink but due to some misunderstanding, he never came to our rescue. We almost died of thirst that day.

I remember I made an umbrella out of my Kikoi and held over my brother's head so that he could walk in the shade. It was not really an act of kindness but more of a sense of duty to protect my brother. We moved on for days and nights and one day someone from town met us and he had terrible news. The people in town have been collected, detained and killed by soldiers. He told us some of our own uncles and cousins are missing. This made everyone sad, the adults were crying and silence fell over the whole family. There was nothing to do though. The choice was stark, staying in the bushes meant certain death from thirst and hunger while going to the wells may have meant facing bullets and batons. The people chose the latter thinking that thirst and hunger were unbearable at any cost. By the time we reached the wells at Leheley, a small village on the outskirt of Wajir town, most of the goats and sheep had died. We started the journey with six hundred goats and sheep and a hundred camels and when we arrived at the wells and the animals drank water, only twenty five survived, the rest died of prolonged thirst and of drinking the salty well water on an empty stomach.

Fear had gripped the towns; men slept in the bushes at night and only ventured into the town in daylight. Every time the roar of an engine was heard, people ran into the nearest outgrowth or up trees. It was a frightening experience the first time I ever set foot in town. Stories abound of what transpired earlier. The military came into the villages, arrested men and burnt houses. Some men were beaten in front of their wives and children until they bleed from the mouth and nose. People in these reserves had never heard a man begging for mercy and crying visible tears before 1984. There were hushed stories told only among age mates that certain women were raped. The stories were hushed because it was very shameful for the families whose women were raped. Some of the women were young beautiful girls who were waiting to be wedded once the rainy season came. It was a particularly gruesome nightmare. The people hoped and prayed that it was just a nightmare and tried very hard to wake up from it but 1984 was real, the killings, the burning and blunder of wealth and the rape of women were real, there was no waking up from this ghostly dream.

from:americanchronicle.com

BDR massacre was a conspiracy, not mutiny

UNB, Dhaka



The bloodbath took place at the BDR Headquarters here on February 25-26 was not a mutiny, but part of a bigger conspiracy which should be unveiled through a fair investigation, speakers told a roundtable here Saturday.

"It's a planned killing and it shouldn't be considered the outcome of an internal conflict between BDR and Army," said former BDR DG Maj Gen (retd) Rezaqul Haider.

The roundtable titled 'BDR Mutiny: Security Implications for Bangladesh and Region' was held at the conference room of The Bangladesh Today in the morning.

The Bangladesh Today and Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies jointly hosted the roundtable with its President Major General (retd) ANM Muniruzzaman in chair.

They called for a fair investigation into the incident to identify the perpetrators.

The speakers said a body like National Security Council (NSC) should be formed to tackle any national crisis. This should be discussed in parliament so that such incidents do not happen again, they said.

They said it is high time to think about forming NSC that would act as a helping instrument to democracy.

Former State Minister for Foreign Affairs Abul Hasan Chowdhury said the BDR carnage had brought a chance for the nation to get united, but unfortunately it did not happen.

He alleged that the opposition has totally failed to play its due role during and after the brutality in the BDR headquarters.

Favoring the idea of forming NSC, he said the entire nation is waiting to see an acceptable and fair investigation into the carnage.

Abul Hasan Chowdhury urged the authorities concerned to let the investigators to do their jobs freely and fairly.

Rezaqul Haider said there is no dual command in BDR and it is totally working under the Ministry of Home.

He said the government might take steps to restructure and strengthen BDR.

President of Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies Major General (retd) ANM Muniruzzaman said a major part of the national security has collapsed with the incidents in the BDR Headquarters. "I don't think that our border are now well-guarded which is a threat to us," Muniruzzaman said.

He said some 2,700 BDR jawans still remained untraced and huge arms and explosives went missing which should be searched out.

Muniruzzaman feared that the explosives and arms might fall into the hands of terrorists and the absconding well-trained BDR jawans might join different terrorist outfits, worsening the country's security concern.

"It's a major blow to our national security and we should not deviate from the objective of investigation," he said.

Bangladesh Today Editor Col (retd) Mahmud-ur-Rahman and Research Assistant of Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies Khaled Iqbal Chowdhury presented two keynote papers in the discussion.

Mahmud-ur-Rahman in his paper said, "Unless politicians and government are willing and able to see changes in this perspective, nothing is likely to change,"

from:nation.ittefaq.com

Things To Do- Roller Derby March 21 Boston Massacre vs. Baltimore + Nutcrackers vs. Cosmonaughties

Who: Boston Derby Dames

What: Full Contact, Flat Track Roller Derby
Date: Saturday, March 21, 2009

Where: Shriners Auditorium, Wilmington, MA

Time: Doors at 4 pm (that’s one hour earlier than usual!)
Bout #1, 5 pm: Boston Massacre vs. Baltimore
Bout #2, 7 pm: Nutcrackers vs. Cosmonaughties

Tickets: $14 in advance, $16 at the door

For more information or to purchase tickets visit www.bostonderbydames.com

At 5 pm…Almost two years since first facing off against (and narrowly beating) Charm City, the Boston Massacre (ranked #3 in the Eastern Region) once again hosts Baltimore’s hard-hitting all-stars.

At 7 pm…The second bout of the evening kicks off our home team season with the Nutcrackers taking on the Cosmonaughties. Will the Nuts have an advantage with a veteran-heavy team? Or will the Cosmos capitalize on the energy of their freshmeat skaters?

Half time show features the tunes of While Rome Burns. And as always, the after party dance floor is open to all, with DJ John Barera spinning until midnight.

The Boston Derby Dames are Boston’s first and only all-female, DIY, skater-owned and operated flat track roller derby league and proud members of the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association.

Massacre at Winnenden: The failure of German gun control

• The failure of police intervention in protecting victims;

• The failure of strict German gun control to stop what is now the third such incident there in recent years; and

• How experts recount the near impossibility of predicting violent behavior.

The next segment will examine why most multiple victim public homicides occur in ostensibly “gun free” zones, and will document cases in which armed intervention by private citizens minimized losses, and demonstrate the positive impact of concealed handgun laws in reducing these crimes.

A boy places flowers and candles at the crime scene in front of Albertson high school in Winnenden, Germany. (AP Photo/Daniel Roland). For slide show, click on photo.

Mumbai Massacre: How to lose high moral ground?

Mumbai Massacre: How to lose high moral ground?

More than 100 days have passed since roughly 200 Indians, who were minding their business, were ruthlessly gunned down by Pakistani terrorists who hatched and executed their hideous plot on Pakistani soil with the explicit support of Lashkar-e-Taiba and the rogue “intelligence” agency, the ISI. While the loved ones of the dead mourn their loss, the Indian government sits on hands offering empty promises of action and Laskhar-e-Taiba possibly plans another attack on the Indian soul.

We have made our opinion very clear on the weak kneed stewardship of the elected officials of India. They lack, in our very public opinion, the intestinal fortitude to take actions that are necessary to provide security to the great nation of ours. There are several reasons for it, none of them justifiable: greed, corruption, moral ambivalence, indifference to our aspirations, disinterest towards our security, and“non-violence.” We call it cowardice.

We might be called pessimistic but we do not see anything good coming out of the Pakistani investigation which is being conducted by the same group of people whose only goal in life is to create trouble for India since our independence, both from the British empire and the shackles of mugal oppression in 1947, the remnants of this mugal thinking are festering in Pakistan. All its supporters want is to foment trouble in the progressive India which is obviously rising from long predominant hibernation with Pakistan, a 4th world country.

What makes us even sadder is the fact that the India diplomats have now lost the high moral ground by taking to responding to Pakistan’s request for more information. Instead of accusing Pakistan of supporting terrorism and asking it to prove its innocence we are now reduced to answering Pakistan’s questions. In effect, the abettor has now become the judge and the victim is now being asked to provide evidence against the abettor. Instead of calling Pakistan on its bluff, we are now begging Pakistan to do something about terrorism. No wonder Mr. Gilani says that he is now responsible for security of two countries: India and Pakistan. The insult is obvious to everyone but to our somnolent politicians. This would be laughable if it wasn’t a reflection on the ineptitude of the fossilized minds of our elected officials.

We have only one question for Manmohan Singh, Pranab Mukherjee and their coterie of mental midgets: How long are they planning for this farce to continue before they take any action to secure our nation?

“ Peace without strength is a dream.”

Martand Pandey is one of our editorial page writers. Write to him atMartand.Pandey@indopia.com

Far Cry 2 linked to German school massacre

First, we were told that the German teenager behind the murders of 15 people at his school last week was an avid Counter-Strike player, now, The Times reports that Tim Kretschmer was playing Far Cry 2 the night before he committed the atrocity.
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The British newspaper suggests that the troubled 17 year-old played the FPS title, released last year, for over two hours the evening before the massacre, and "remarkable parallels" between his experience in the game and the events that transpired are noted by the publication.

Apparently, the Beretta 92 handgun featured in the game was also the murder weapon - fired 112 times - while the title also features the aiming, firing and re-loading of the handgun in question in "vivid" detail.

The report tempers this connection by adding that it is "nonsense" to suggest the game could be to blame, the teenager having also played Counter-Strike during the evening, as previously mentioned.

Still, these shocking events in Germany have once again placed gaming in the spotlight, politicians on the continent already calling for stronger legislation and more research.

from: play.tm

My Lai massacre’s 41th anniversary commemorated

Hundreds of local people and foreign tourists attended a flower and incense offering ceremony held in Son My village, Quang Ngai province, on March 16 to honour the victims of the My Lai massacre conducted by the US army during the Vietnam War.

US veteran Mike Boehm, a figure in the documentary “The Sound of the Violin in My Lai” directed by Tran Van Thuy, was present at the event and played the violin in memory of the victims. He has frequently attended the annual anniversary over the past 10 years.

After the ceremony, a bell tower worth VND100 million dedicated to the souls of the victims was put into use with its bell to be rung 504 times at 6am every day in commemoration of the 504 Vietnamese victims killed in the slaughter.

On the occasion, veteran Mike Boehm announced the completion of renovations and improvements to the Son My primary school building, the construction of which was made possible with VND1.3 billion in funds raised by Mr Boehm and other US veterans.
On March 16, 1968, the US army cruelly killed 504 unarmed Vietnamese citizens in the hamlets of My Lai and My Khe in Son My village, Son Tinh district, Quang Ngai province. All the victims were civilians, including women, children and old people. Many of them were beaten, tortured, maimed or sexually abused. Some were found mutilated.

from:english.vovnews.vn