Bdr Mutiny

 In 25th February 2009, Bangladesh had to stand witness to one of the deadliest and bloodiest military coup since the battle of independence in 1971. The mutiny was staged by a number of personnel from the Bangladesh Rifles. BDR is considered to one of the oldest institution in our country dating back 213 years. The main purpose of this force is to guard the borders of this country from outside threats. This force is also responsible for the apprehension of smuggling in the border areas and also acts as first line of defense against outside threats. Sadly, the mutiny that broke out in 25th February shook the institution to its very core. According to an article of bdnews24 the soldiers from the force revolted against their commanding officers which resulted in the death of total 74 people which also included 57 army officers. They staged the mutiny on the second day of the yearly event “BDR Week” held in 24th February 2009. It was published in the BIPSS special report that more than a thousand officers fired bullets in Darbar in order to kill the senior officers present there and also held their family hostage. The revolt ended in 26th February as the government threatened to use military force in order to drive them out but it was too late as it already resulted in the death of   BDR Director General, Major General Shakil Ahmed, and his wife and countless other people. (BIPSS special report on BDR mutiny)

 The aim of this report is to answer the research question which is “What are effects of the BDR mutiny on the military it’s consequences?” Similarly the report will also try to connect and discuss the above question and situation in the light of two specific theories. First I will try to discuss in terms of functionalism and then later I will try to connect it to the conflict theory.

 To begin with, I will try to present the situation through the functionalist perspective. The functionalist perspective is concerned with way in which different parts of the society are structured together in order to maintain its stability. (Richard T. Shaefer, Sociology 10th edition, 2015). Every society has several aspects and functionalism dictates how these aspects are interconnected to each other.  If a society or institution is structured than it is known as structural functionalism which mainly focuses on the hidden structures of the society. One important aspect of structural functionalism is dysfunction. It mainly points towards a specific element or process in a society which negatively affects the social structures, disrupts the social system and in terms reduces it internal stability. It mainly exists because of the tension, strain or contradictions within the components of socio cultural system. The BDR is important institution of this country and serves a specific purpose so it should be considered a function of this society. Since the BDR mutiny caused a structural imbalance and caused a huge distortion in the entire military society as well as the society as whole it can be considered as dysfunction.