Will stand beside Yunus, come what may: Bangladesh army chief

Dhaka, Sep 24 (IANS) Bangladesh's Chief of Army Staff, General Waker-Uz-Zaman has indicated for the first time that the interim government headed by Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus could stay at the helm of affairs in the country for at least 18 months. 

"If you ask me, then I will say that should be the time frame by which we should enter into a democratic process," Bangladesh's leading newspaper The Daily Star quoted the four-star General as saying during an interview with international news agency Reuters.

The newspaper mentioned that it is the first time that a concrete timeframe has been mentioned by a key player in the current government even though the army chief gave no further elaboration of what he meant by "democratic process".

Last week, the government had given magisterial powers to commissioned army officers with immediate effect for 60 days in order to improve law and order in the country.

General Waker-Uz-Zaman, on his part, also assured that the army would continue to solidly back the reforms initiated by Yunus-led government.

"I will stand beside him. Come what may. So that he can accomplish his mission," Zaman, who replaced General S M Shafiuddin Ahmed as the country's army chief in June, said in the interview.

Prior to joining as the Chief of General Staff of Bangladesh Army in January 2024, he worked as Principal Staff Officer of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at Armed Forces Division under Bangladesh Prime Minister's Office.

"The army's refusal to apply force and subdue the people's uprising hastened the fall of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League regime. While the police and ruling party cadres are blamed for shooting dead hundreds of protesters during the anti-quota and anti-government protests, the military mostly stood aside, and thus remains one of the few institutions that has survived the violent transition almost unsullied," reported Daily Star on Tuesday.

Once a leading voice in the struggle to restore secular democracy in the country, being the daughter of Bangladesh’s founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Hasina had to flee the country in an ignominious manner and seek refuge in India on August 5.

An interim government in Bangladesh was soon sworn in, with Yunus serving as its Chief Advisor.

--IANS

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