The year 1985 was a difficult one in the chequered history of Bangladesh. It was a decade since the father of the nation, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was assassinated, and almost a decade and a half had passed since the deadly Cyclone ‘Bhola’ that devastated the country before it got independence from Pakistan. But despite the years, the country was not yet ready for another political or natural disaster. In the summer of 1985, a massive cyclone ripped through the coastal part of Bangladesh and left at least 11,000 people dead. It was in that dramatic condition of natural fury and the subsequent political breakdown that a young cadet, Waker-uz-Zaman, joined the infantry of Bangladesh. Nearly four decades later, as the head of the Army, Gen. Waker-uz-Zaman was thrown into the labyrinthine politics of Bangladesh on August 5, 2024.

It was a tense morning with families across the capital, Dhaka, stepping out for one last confrontation with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s law and order machinery. Ms. Hasina led the government for a decade and a half with an iron hand. As teachers, students, lawyers and housewives bid goodbye to their families and started flooding the streets of Dhaka, there was anticipation of a bloodbath as the police and the military were expected to crush the uprising and enforce a lockdown that Ms. Hasina had ordered.

But by 11 am, it became clear that something had changed during the night and that the military had decided not to support the month-long crackdown that had left hundreds dead. As Ms. Hasina boarded a helicopter and flew out of the country, the systemic reflex action in Dhaka pushed Gen. Zaman to the forefront.

By afternoon, representatives of all the major political parties and civil society figures received an urgent call to converge under his leadership and have a discussion about the road ahead. By the evening, Bangladesh heaved a sigh of relief when Gen. Zaman held a press conference to announce that the military would hold the fort until a new interim government is formed.

The role of Gen. Zaman has been keenly watched from the beginning of the latest political turbulence that hit Bangladesh in July 2024 when the students took to the streets under the leadership of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement (Boishommo Birodhi Chhatra Andolan).

The crackdown against the students-led uprising was led by the police and security forces, and the military, though at times accused of firing upon violent mobs, more or less kept away from the scenes of extreme violence. Daily Star reported that the night before the expected final showdown between the government and protesters, the military’s top officials met Gen. Zaman and decided that the military would not enforce the lockdown Ms. Hasina had ordered.

This was subsequently conveyed to Ms. Hasina, which meant that the Prime Minister no longer had the support of her military.

In charge of policing

The interim government under Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, however, has been suffering from a congenital problem as it has failed to revive the police and the security forces whose credibility nosedived before the people as they were seen as complicit in the anti-student crackdown. Lack of effective policing has left the law and order in a fragile condition since the fall of Ms. Hasina, which prompted the military to take up magisterial power in the country on September 17, putting the Army effectively in charge of policing.

Ever since August, every action of Gen. Zaman has been minutely observed in the media. On January 2, he met former PM Khaleda Zia at her residence which triggered intense speculation about what he was up to next.

Starting with the infantry in 1985, Gen. Zaman grew to ultimately command the Infantry Battalion of Bangladesh. He was a distinguished instructor at the School of Infantry and Tactics, the Non-commissioned Officers’ Academy and the Bangladesh Institute of Peace Support Operations Training. He also served as the Military Secretary in the Army Headquarters and Principal Staff Officer under Prime Minister Hasina. He has experience of handling military operations, military intelligence and UN peacekeeping affairs of the Bangladesh Army.

What adds political context to Gen. Zaman is his background. The General is married to academic Sarahnaz Kamalika Zaman, the eldest daughter of late Gen. Muhammad Mustafizur Rahman, who served as the Army chief during Ms. Hasina’s first prime ministerial stint in the late 1990s. Gen. Rahman had married a cousin of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. In that way, Gen. Zaman is a distant relative of Ms. Hasina.

This family link had come up for discussion among anti-Hasina forces when she was evacuated in a military aircraft. It was alleged that Gen. Zaman had saved Ms. Hasina from the wrath of the protesters because of family links. But the role of the military and his own position in the interim period became clear with an interview that Gen. Zaman gave to Prothom Alo on December 30. In the interview, he extended explicit support to the interim government but criticised the failures of the authorities in rebuilding the policing structure. “At the end of the day, it is my soldiers who have to take to the field. They have been five months in the field now,” he said. He toned down the anti-India rhetoric that had gone ballistic with strong speeches by the student leaders.

Targeting Constitution

The interview coincided with a dramatic declaration by several student-coordinators, including Hasnat Abdullah and Sarjis Alam of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, that they would “bury” the current Constitution in a massive rally at the Shaheed Minar on December 31. The interim government has already constituted several commissions for reforms, including one that is being led by Professor Ali Riaz of Illinois State University, for reform of the Constitution and it was felt that a public call for “burying” the Constitution by the students would unleash further chaos in the country.

On January 30, the interim government pledged to come out with its own “July Proclamation” that would lay down a roadmap for the future of Bangladesh. It was reported that the interim government’s initiative was prompted by Gen. Zaman and other members of the Bangladesh military who had expressed concern over the call to dismantle the Constitution. Student protest of December 31 fizzled out but the students have given a deadline of January 15 for the announcement of the “July Proclamation”.

The role of the Army chief is also important as the incoming Trump presidency in the U.S. is expected to create further problems for the unstable interim government as President Trump is a known critic of Mr. Yunus, who has not given a clear timeline for holding elections.

If Mr. Trump cold-shoulders the Yunus government, the most important player in Dhaka will be Gen. Zaman who has so far refrained from taking over direct power while effectively being in charge of law and order.

Bangladesh’s Chief of Army Staff General Waker-uz-Zaman cooled down the heated anti-India rhetoric that was heard in the student-led “unity rally” of December 31. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Bangladesh needs to build an environment that will allow reconciliation among various stakeholders of the nation, Army chief General Waker-uz-Zaman said. In a frank interview with prominent news daily Prothom Alo, he made several critical observations on the policing failures of the current interim administration, and said India and Bangladesh were dependent on each other on many fronts and, therefore, both should remain mindful of this reality while taking decisions.

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“We want a peaceful environment. Peace and stability is very important now for Bangladesh’s economy and social development. Without these two factors, there can be no development or good governance. That is why we need to restore tolerance among ourselves. An environment of national consensus must be created,” Gen. Waker-uz-Zaman said, touching upon some of the critical issues in the country.

Bangladesh came very close to having a public showdown between the Anti-discrimination Students Movement and the military-backed interim administration, on December 31, 2024, when student activists, still triumphant from the successful overthrow of the Sheikh Hasina government five months previously, wanted to “bury” the Constitution of Bangladesh.

The call for a “July proclamation” to do away with the 1972 Constitution, which has been followed even by the former military rulers of Bangladesh, created a tense situation on the streets, and finally, the interim government came out with an assurance that it would declare its own July proclamation to formalise the legacy of the uprising in July-August. Surprisingly, the call to do away with the Constitution found opposition from prominent leaders in the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, with standing committee member Mirza Abbas describing the call to dismantle the 1972 Constitution as “fascist”.

Gen. Waker-uz-Zaman also cooled down the heated anti-India rhetoric that was heard in the student-led “unity rally” of December 31. “India is an important neighbour (of Bangladesh). We are dependent on India in many ways. And India is getting facilities from us, too,” he said.

He depicted the India-Bangladesh relationship as one in which both sides depended on the other for their security needs, economic activities, and the medical requirements of the people of Bangladesh. “See, the thing is that we will not do anything with our neighbour that goes against their strategic interests. At the same time, we will expect that our neighbour does nothing that is contrary to our interests,” the Army chief said. He pointed out that security concerns at the Bangladesh-Myanmar border and the Chittagong Hill Tracts were of great importance to Bangladesh, while reminding India to stop border killings and provide Bangladesh with its “fair share of water”.

The interview with Gen. Waker-uz-Zaman has created a buzz among Bangladesh observers for several reasons, including the message it seeks to convey. In view of the breakdown of law and order, especially the dysfunctional police administration in Bangladesh, there had been growing anticipation that the military would secure a more direct role. In September, the Bangladesh military was given magisterial powers, although it has not used them fully so far.

Gen. Waker-uz-Zaman pledged full support to the interim government led by Chief Adviser Mohammad Yunus but, significantly, declared explicitly that the restoration of institutions in the country would depend on a politically empowered government. “This will require political parties and a government. This will not be possible without politics and without a political government,” he said.

He also expressed eager concern for the recovery of Bangladesh’s policing capacity, with many instances of mob justice having taken place since the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government. “They (the Army) have been five months in the field now. If the police could get organised fast, I would have no worry,” Gen. Waker-uz-Zaman said.

The Prothom Alo interview, however, did not include a question on the issue of Sheikh Hasina’s presence in India, which has greatly disturbed ties between New Delhi and Dhaka in the past few months.