The Crime Desk: Sheikh Hasina was ousted from the post of Prime Minister on August 5 due to violent protests by students. On that day, he was forced to flee to India in a military helicopter. Since then, he is staying in India. After Hasina’s escape from the country, the Nobel-winning economist Professor Dr. An interim government was formed under the leadership of Muhammad Yunus. This government has already taken initiatives to reform the main sectors of the country. In such a situation, the chief adviser, General Waqar-uz-Zaman, Bangladesh Army Chief, expressed strong support to Yunus’s government. This information has been reported by the news agency Reuters.
Bangladesh’s army chief has pledged to support the interim government “at all costs” to help complete key reforms undertaken by the interim government that came to power after the fall of Sheikh Hasina so that elections can be held in the country within the next 18 months, the report said.
According to Reuters, General Walker and his troops sided with Hasina in violent student-led protests against her in early August, which ensured Hasina’s ouster after 15 years in power; she fled to neighboring India.
General Walker gave an interview to Reuters in the capital Dhaka on Monday. In the interview, he said that he has full support for the interim administration of the government led by Nobel Prize winner Professor Muhammad Yunus.
General Walker said, I will stand by him (Dr. Muhammad Yunus). no matter what, so that he can complete his mission.
General Waqar-uz-Zaman took over as the army chief a few weeks before Hasina’s departure. In the interview, he said that after the reforms, the transition to democracy should be done within one to one and a half years. But at this time he emphasized patience.
He said, “If you ask me, I would say—we should enter the democratic process within this time frame.”
General Walker said the interim government’s chief adviser. Yunus and he (Army Chief) are meeting every week, and they have a very good relationship. He said that the Bangladesh Army supports the government’s efforts to stabilize the country.
He said, I am sure that if we work together, there is no reason for us to fail.
I will not do anything that harms my organization, said the army chief. He said, I am a professional soldier. I want to keep my army professional.
Apart from this, the army chief said that action will be taken if any army member is found guilty. Some military officers may commit wrongdoing while working in agencies directly controlled by the former prime minister (Hasina) or the home minister, General Walker said.
In the long term, General Walker wants the military to distance itself from the political establishment, Reuters says. The Bangladesh Army has more than 130,000 soldiers, and Bangladesh is one of the major troop contributors to UN peacekeeping missions.
This can only happen if there is some balance of power between the president and the prime minister, where the armed forces are placed directly under the president, General Walker said.
The military as a whole should never be used for political purposes. A soldier should not indulge in politics, says Bangladesh Army Chief.
