I penned an article when Iajuddin took the charge of Chief Advisor (CA) of the caretaker government (CG) in late October 2006 in which I correctly predicted that the military will take control of Bangladesh, eventually. But what was not clear to me at the time that the leaders of armed force would come one step at a time. When Iajuddin single-handedly roiled things up by his overtly partisan activities, only then the military moved in but they remained in the background.

On January 11, 2007 Iajuddin was given no other alternative than to relinquish the position of CA and to declare the emergency, which he did rather unwittingly. The president knew full well who called the shots; he simply had to acquiesce in. The military, however, let Iajuddin stay as the president not because they have high opinion about him, but because they wanted to see the country run as per the existing constitution albeit under an emergency rule. This move by the military served three purposes, namely, block the up coming parliamentary election to be held on January 22, 2007; dissolve the inept and partisan CG; name a neutral CA who would agree to run the interim government as per the military’s wishes.

There was no mention in any of the newspapers in the country in first week after the declaration of emergency that Bangladesh’s armed forces were behind this capricious move by Iajuddin. On January 17 London’s Financial Times (FT) revealed for the first time that the military had handed Iajuddin their five-point demand, which was readily accepted by the aging head of the government. I wrote an Op-Ed based on FT article which was published in Daily Star on January 19, 2007. From the next day, most newspapers in Dhaka started to label the interim government of Fakhruddin Ahmed a military-backed one.

In January 2007 the military leaders remained reticent. But as the day wore on, slowly but surely the military’s presence in the governance became noticeable. First, in February 2007 the army chief, Lt. Gen. Moeen, gave two public lectures in the backwaters of Bangladesh. These lectures had policy statements of the interim government vis-à-vis arrest of the corrupt politicians and businessmen. Also, to hide the role army played to dissolve the first caretaker government was downplayed by repeated pronouncement that President Iajuddin had saved the nation from imperilment. This was absurd. What the General failed to state succinctly that army gave ultimatum to Iajuddin. The FT article also stated that the military leaders wanted Dr. Yunus to run the country as the CA of the interim government. The Nobel laureate turned down the military’s request but recommended Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed, who was a lifelong technocrat serving in the World Bank, to be the CA. On January 12, 2007, Fakhruddin was sworn in as the CA without much fanfare.

The caretaker government did not allow the political parties to host public meeting but they did not mind small gatherings or at least they tolerated indoor meetings and looked the other way when Yunus floated his new party with much fanfare after buzzing the Internet and print media with his personal letter to the people of Bangladesh. But when Yunus was done with his announcement of the name of his new political party, the interim government started to clamp the political activities. After the arrest of fifty thousand common criminals and 100 or so top political leaders from different parties, the government took a stern action to freeze all political activities in the first week of March 2007.

The CG revamped the nation’s Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) by appointing Lt. General (Retired) Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury in late February 2007 who then declared the commission’s jihad against corruption.

On March 12, 2007 the CG formed a 16-member National Coordination Committee on Curbing Grave Offences or NCCCGO headed by the Communications Adviser Major General (Retired) M.A. Matin to conduct intensified drive against corruption, irregularities and crimes of grave nature in the country. The government expects a close coordination between NCCCGO and ACC to combat corruption related crime near terms.

In a government circular issued recently the Cabinet Secretary Ali Imam Majumder said that there would be seven city or regional committees to assist the newly constituted NCCCGO. The city or regional committees have been formed at Savar-Dhaka, Ghatail (Tangail Cantonment), Chittagong, Comilla, Bogra, Rangpur and Jessore regions. The order came into retrospective effect from February 4.

Please look at the members of NCCCGO to appreciate the penetration of the armed forces in the forefront of governance. The 16-member NCCCGO comprises Major General Masud Uddin Chowdhury, GOC, Nine infantry division, as its chief coordinator while all GOCs will discharge their duties as representatives and coordinators of their respective regions. Besides army, the following persons will join the crime fighting apex body: Secretary to the Chief Adviser's office, secretary of the ACC, chairman of the National Board of Revenue (NBR), Inspector General of Police (IGP), additional secretary (Legislative) of the Law Ministry, director general of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), deputy director general of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), deputy governor of Bangladesh Bank, director of the National Security Intelligence (NSI), director of the DGFI, DMO of Bangladesh Army, joint secretary (Political) of the Home Ministry and additional or deputy attorney general are the members of the NCCCGO.

The NCCCGO will be a powerful wing of the government in respect to fighting corruption both inside and outside the government. It will have the following responsibilities: i) evaluate the list of those who are involved in different types of crimes prepared by different agencies; ii) recommend legal action against the listed persons; iii) update the list of offenders; iv) maintain coordination with the executives or agencies or ministries concerned for appointment of required numbers of local and foreign chartered accounts or auditors or experts or consultants to conduct investigation; v) constitute one or more sub-committees to co-ordinate, supervise and monitor the procedural and legal aspects of investigation and conduct cases.

As per the circular, each of the city or regional committees under the NCCCGO was headed by a Brigadier General. Other members of the committee include commissioner of NBR DIG, one joint secretary, a commodore or captain of the Bangladesh Navy and Air Commodore or Group Captain of Bangladesh Air Force (BAF).

I ask the readerships to draw their own conclusion about the ever increasing responsibilities borne by the leaders of the armed services. It clearly sends a chilling message. The army does not trust the civilians when the issue is corruption in Bangladesh society. Interestingly, many army officers had amassed wealth illegally through graft and extortion during 1976 through 1989 when two army despots ruled Bangladesh tightfistedly. But for some strange reasons not a single retired army officer’s name was included in the list prepared by the CG. Does it mean that army officers are incorruptible? We need an answer on this one very badly.

On March 8, 2007 I read a news report through which I learnt that the caretaker government has made a decision to reconstitute the high-powered National Security Council (NSC) to strengthen the ongoing crackdown on corrupt individuals, and to ensure national security and accountability in the government. The CA, Fakhruddin Ahmed, will head the NSC while the chiefs of three armed forces, chief of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), and civil society personalities will be its members. The armed forces will have a voice in the policy making meeting at the apex level, undoubtedly. Does this news ring the bell? Is Bangladesh soon to be run by the armed forces?

In summary, the military’s tentacles are growing very rapidly in Bangladesh. The newly formed crime fighting body, NCCCGO, is dominated by the military and the powerful governmental body, NSC, will have the chief of army, air force and navy in it. We will be watching more developments in coming days. Let us hope that armed forces sphere of influence is restricted to the confine of barracks. However, that is a wishful thinking on my part knowing how things are shaping up. Bad days are here again for the politicians. Bangladesh is now under the grip of a powerful bunch of oligarchs. Make no mistake about it.



Dr. A.H. Jaffor Ullah, a researcher and columnist, writes from New Orleans, USA. E mail : jhankar@bellsouth.net