Bangladesh carried out a major reshuffle in the top positions in the Army on Tuesday. It occurred a day after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country following deadly protests against her government over a controversial job quota system. Maj. Gen. Ziaul Ahsan, the director general of the National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre, considered to be closed with the erstwhile Hasina government, has been relieved from duty, according to the Dhaka Tribune newspaper.
Lt. Gen. Mohammed Saiful Alam has been assigned to the Foreign Ministry. Lt. Gen. Mohammed Mojibur Rahman has been appointed as the GOC Army Training and Doctrine Command, Lt. Gen. Ahmad Tabrez Shams Chowdhury as Quartermaster General of the Army, Lt. Gen. Mizanur Rahman Shamim as chief of general staff of the Army, Lt. Gen. Mohammed Shahinul Haque as Commandant NDC, and Major General ASM Ridwanur Rahman as director general of NTMC.
The rejig in the Bangladesh Army followed the dissolution of the country’s Parliament by President Mohammed Shahabuddin, which occurred one day after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and left the country. Hasina’s resignation came amidst a crackdown on protests that initially started against preferential job quotas but escalated into a movement demanding her ousting, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of people.
General Waker-Uz-Zaman, the Army Chief of Bangladesh, announced Hasina’s resignation in a televised address and confirmed the formation of an interim government. Chief Zaman, who spent nearly four decades advancing to the top of the military, stated that he was “taking full responsibility” after Hasina was ousted.
Bangladesh has been rocked by protests and violence since last month when student groups called for the removal of a contentious quota system in government jobs. The protests then escalated into a movement to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Hasina, who has been in power for 15 years and recently won a fourth consecutive term in January.
Team BharatShakti
