A government commission in Bangladesh has delivered a damning conclusion, finding that the country's former prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, directly ordered the mass killing of senior military officers during a brutal border guard mutiny 16 years ago . The findings fundamentally rewrite the official history of one of the nation's most traumatic military events and intensify the legal and political siege surrounding the ousted leader.
The report, submitted on November 30, 2025, by a commission established by the current interim government, states that the 2009 mutiny and massacre were not a spontaneous uprising by disgruntled soldiers. Instead, it concludes the then-Awami League government under Sheikh Hasina was "directly involved" . The commission alleges that former lawmaker Fazle Noor Taposh acted as the "principal coordinator" on behalf of Hasina, who personally gave the "green signal" to carry out the killings . In a striking addition, the commission chief, A.L.M. Fazlur Rahman, claimed the investigation found strong evidence of involvement by a "foreign force," explicitly accusing India of attempting to destabilize Bangladesh and weaken its army .
The 2009 Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) revolt, also known as the Pilkhana massacre, remains a deep wound in the nation's history. Over two days in February 2009, rank-and-file paramilitary soldiers rebelled at their Dhaka headquarters, killing 74 people, including 57 army officers seconded to the force . The mutiny, which began just weeks after Hasina took office, spread to outposts across the country, severely destabilizing her new government . The official explanation at the time, produced by an investigation during Hasina's tenure, blamed years of pent-up anger among soldiers over poor pay, conditions, and treatment by army officers . The new commission's report categorically rejects this narrative, framing it as a cover-up for a calculated political conspiracy.
These explosive allegations arrive as Sheikh Hasina faces unprecedented legal peril. Since being ousted in August 2024 by a student-led uprising, she has sought refuge in India, defying court orders to return to Bangladesh . In November 2025, a special tribunal in Dhaka convicted Hasina in absentia of crimes against humanity and sentenced her to death for her role in the deadly crackdown on those 2024 protests, during which an estimated 1,400 people were killed . The interim government, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, welcomed both the tribunal's verdict and the new commission's report on the 2009 mutiny. Yunus stated the nation had long been "in the dark" and that "the truth has finally been revealed" .
The commission's accusation of Indian involvement, alongside New Delhi's continued sheltering of Hasina, has severely strained relations between the two neighboring countries . Bangladesh's government has repeatedly called for Hasina's extradition, citing a bilateral treaty, but India has not complied . This diplomatic friction compounds Bangladesh's ongoing political instability as it navigates a fraught transition under its interim administration, with national elections scheduled for February 2026 .