Staff Correspondent:

Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus said on Tuesday that Bangladesh, as a state, is committed to ensuring fair justice for the military officials who were killed during the 2009 BDR carnage in Pilkhana, Dhaka.

In a statement marking the first anniversary of National Martyred Army Day, the Chief Adviser honoured the martyrs as the nation’s brightest children, and said the interim government decided to observe February 25 as the national day every year from now on.

“The family members of the martyrs are still waiting for justice for the murder of their relatives even after so many years of losing their loved ones. After the brutal killing of the valiant army members in Pilkhana, we have been kept in confusion as a nation for many years,” he said in the statement.

Prof Yunus hoped that the country and its people will stand beside the martyrs’ families and all the oppressed people being sympathetic. “From now on, this day will remind us of the unexpected brutal death of a group of brave people who were on the way with a vow to fight for the country as a controller of our consciousness and feelings.”

No more lives should be lost in misrule, conspiracy and self-pride, he said.

“On this day, we pledge to build a self-reliant and civilised Bangladesh in memory of the martyred soldiers of the nation. On the occasion of Martyred Army Day, on behalf of the nation, I once again pay my humble respect to all the martyrs,” the CA added.