Senior officers of the Bangladesh Army reportedly met the country’s President Md Shahabuddin on Monday night in the backdrop of the ban on Awami League, the country’s oldest political party, ET has learnt. This was, however, described as a regular drill.
There are rumours about changes in higher echelons of the government structure in Dhaka to appoint hardliners after the ban on Awami League, according to persons familiar with the internal developments of Bangladesh. There are also unconfirmed reports about churning in the Bangladesh military. These developments occurred while India was handling military retaliation by Pakistan.
There are reports that the interim government might abrogate the current Constitution and a new July proclamation could be announced and the country will be governed under that.
Meanwhile, Pakistan High Commissioner to Bangladesh Syed Ahmed Maroof is reportedly untraceable and may have been withdrawn by Islamabad for certain social misconduct.
According to Dhaka based sources, Maroof has been on leave since May 11 and is currently outside the country. Pakistan’s Deputy High Commissioner in Dhaka, Muhammad Asif, is serving as the Acting High Commissioner in the absence of Maroof.There are allegations that Maroof was involved in a relationship with a local in Dhaka named Hafiza Haque Shah, an assistant director in Bangladesh Bank. During Maroof’s last visit to Cox’s Bazar, the issue of this “relationship” was visible in a way that caused major embarrassment in Islamabad forcing Pakistan’s foreign affairs ministry to withdraw Maroof, sources alleged.Maroof has a reputation of a socialite in various circles and played a key role in improving Bangladesh-Pakistan ties across sectors since the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government last August.
Pakistan, whose ties with Hasina were lukewarm, suddenly boosted its ties with Dhaka across a slew of areas including defence, trade, diplomacy and people-to-people ties. Maroof played a key role in this process.