Two days after Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was forced to resign and fled the country amid widespread protests, major changes are taking place in the neighboring country’s institutions, including the Bangladesh Army, Dhaka Metropolitan Police, and Bangladesh Bank.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) directorate announced on Tuesday that Major General Ziaul Ahsan, the director general of the National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre (NTMC), has been sacked and replaced by Maj Gen ASM Ridwanur Rahman. In the same statement, the ISPR revealed several other key changes within the army, including the reassignment of Lt Gen Saiful Alam to the foreign ministry, Lt Gen Mujibur Rahman as GOC at Army Training and Doctrine Command, Lt Gen Ahammad Tabrej Shams Chowdhury as quarter master general, Lt Gen Mizanur Rahman Shamim as chief of general staff, and Lt Gen Mohammad Shahinul Haque as commandant of NDC.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the authorities announced the reconstitution of the top positions in the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP). AKM Shahidur Rahman has been appointed as Director General of RAB, replacing additional Inspector General of Police Md. Harun Ar Rashid. Md. Mainul Hasan will replace Habibur Rahman as the commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police. The new appointments were announced in a notification from the public security division of the home ministry. Earlier on Tuesday night, Mainul Islam was appointed as Inspector General of Police (IGP), having previously served as the commandant (additional IGP) of police traffic and driving school.
Amid these changes, Bangladesh Bank has also been hit by instability. A group of nearly 200 officials and employees staged a demonstration demanding the resignation of the central bank governor, four deputy governors, advisers, and the head of the financial intelligence unit (BFIU). According to a Prothom Alo English report, the protesters stormed the governor’s floor in the main building of the central bank and forced all the deputy governors to sign blank resignation papers. The report cites witnesses saying that the four deputy governors and the head of the financial intelligence unit have resigned and left the bank under pressure from the protesting officials. The soldiers provided security to them during their departure. The governor, Abdur Rouf Talukder, was not in the office at the time of the incident.
The protesting officials and employees, who did not carry any party banners, accused top officials of Bangladesh Bank of being responsible for irregularities and corruption within the banking sector. They argued that good governance cannot be restored while these individuals remain in charge. Witnesses reported that the protesters initially targeted the office of Deputy Governor Kazi Sayedur Rahman, pressuring him to resign. Rahman complied by writing and signing his resignation on a blank sheet of paper before leaving the bank. Subsequently, the group forced Deputy Governors Nurun Nahar, Md. Khurshid Alam, and Md. Habibur Rahman to sign blank resignation papers as well. They also demanded the resignation of bank advisers Abu Farah Md. Nasser and Masud Biswas from the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit. All of these top officials were appointed on a contractual basis.
The agitating officials and employees declared the top executives persona non grata within the central bank and appointed Executive Director-1 Zakir Hossain Chowdhury as the officer-in-charge.
76-year-old Hasina’s 15-year rule ended after she resigned as the prime minister following massive protests that initially began as an agitation against a job quota scheme but later morphed into a mass movement demanding her ouster from power. The controversial quota system provided for 30 per cent reservations in civil services jobs for the families of veterans who fought the 1971 liberation war. Hasina’s Awami League retained power in the parliamentary election in January, which was boycotted by the opposition parties.
The former Bangladesh prime minister left her official residence, Ganabhavan, in a military chopper to an airbase. From there, she flew into Hindon in a C-130 military transport aircraft of the Bangladesh Air Force. Her planned travel to London has hit a roadblock due to the UK’s hesitation to provide her refuge. She is unlikely to leave India for the next couple of days, according to people familiar with the matter.
