NEW DELHI: Bangladesh Army chief Gen Waker-uz-Zaman on Tuesday read the riot act to political forces, saying that the country’s freedom would be jeopardised if they continued their fighting and squabbling.
Zaman, who was addressing an event organised by the army in Dhaka, called for elections to be held by December and said the interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus appeared to be heading towards this objective.
He denounced attacks on the army and his office and said Bangladesh’s armed forces were the “only force” standing with the people.
Zaman’s remarks came against the backdrop of differences within the student groups that forced former premier Sheikh Hasina from office last August and divergences between the caretaker administration and political parties over the holding of elections.
“I am cautioning you – you may say later that I didn’t caution you. If you don’t overcome your differences and work together, if you keep flinging mud at each other, fighting and killing each other, the freedom of this country and its people will be endangered,” Zaman said, speaking in Bengali.
Without specifying the forces he was referring to, Zaman said he wanted to see army troops return to their barracks after restoring law and order.
“For the last seven-eight months, I’ve had enough. I want the military to return to the barracks after leaving the country and the people in a good place,” he said.
Zaman called for the holding of a free, fair and inclusive election and noted that he had already said that elections should be held within 18 months of the formation of the caretaker administration last August.
“Every time I’ve spoken to Dr Yunus, he completely agrees with me that there should be a free, fair and inclusive election and that election should be within December or close to that,” he said.
“I think the government is also moving towards that. Dr Yunus is making all efforts and working to keep the country united. We have to help him so that he’s successful,” he added.
In recent weeks, Yunus has spoken about the possibility of holding elections either by the end of this year or early in 2026. He has also linked the holding of elections to carrying out political elections.
Zaman said that the squabbling between political forces was the main reason behind the deterioration of the law and order situation in Bangladesh.
“We are busy squabbling, we are busy fighting with each other, this is a very good opportunity for criminals. We are living in a chaotic situation, they know they can get away with committing crimes,” he said.
While acknowledging that members of security organisations such as the police, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) and National Security Intelligence (NSI) may have been involved in “bad things”, he said such persons would be punished.
“If anyone has committed crimes, they’ll be punished. If they’re not punished, these things will recur. We want to stop that forever,” he said.
“But you must remember that we will do this work in such a way that these organisations are not undermined. One big reason the police force isn’t functioning is that there are cases against many of them, many are in jail. RAB, BGB, DGFI, NSI are panicked,” he added.
He further acknowledged that the army is facing problems as the force has almost 30,000 troops engaged in security duties.
“We are seeing hatred for the army and the army chief from some people, I still haven’t found the reason for this. We are the only force working for you, we are standing together – army, navy and air force. Help us, don’t attack us,” Zaman said.
Zaman’s remarks were the first public comments by a senior member of the Bangladeshi military leadership on the political situation in many months and came against the backdrop of uncertainty over the holding of elections. They also came on a day when senior Bangladesh National Party (BNP) leader Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir urged Yunus to “govern with a strong hand” and move towards holding a “neutral national election as soon as possible”.