Bangladesh Army Watches As Yunus Administration Grapples With Violence, Chaos | World News

NEW DELHI: Bangladesh’s interim government, led by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus, is currently facing severe criticism for its failure to maintain law and order, leaving the country at risk of another military takeover of its day-to-day administration. Dhaka is no stranger to the Army’s involvement in governance, with numerous takeovers and coup attempts marking its history since gaining independence from Pakistani oppression in 1971; this number is more than a dozen.

In August 1975, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the architect of the Bangladesh freedom movement, and his family were assassinated in a military coup that toppled the founding government and triggered years of instability.

Mujibur Rahman’s daughters Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana survived the assassination as they were in Europe at the time. Turbulent times followed over the next two years, featuring a series of coups and counter-coups.

There were numerous assassinations and changes of power that resulted in Lieutenant General Ziaur Rahman consolidating his power.

Lieutenant General Rahman, known as President Zia, founded the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) in September 1978; this party was later led by his wife Begum Khaleda Zia after he was assassinated by a group of military personnel on 30 May 1981.

While the country’s first female Prime Minister Khaleda Zia is in critical condition in hospital, her son Tariq Rahman is expected to return home after living in self-imposed exile in Britain for 17 years.

Deputy Chairman of BNP Khaleda Zia is seen as the leading candidate in the general elections to be held in Bangladesh in February 2026.

Following the assassination of Lieutenant General Ziaur Rahman, General Hussain Muhammad Ershad seized power in a bloodless coup in March 1982 and ruled until mass protests forced him to resign in 1990.

General Ershad died of old age in 2019. He is considered among the most controversial but also important political leaders in Bangladesh and is often referred to as a “dictator”.

Many of those he thought were against him were either assassinated or sentenced to life imprisonment.

There were numerous coup attempts and alleged plots between 1996 and 2011, but none resulted in long-term military rule.

Regarding the current situation, a recent report of the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee on “Future of India-Bangladesh Relationship” addressed this issue.

The report, presented in the just concluded Winter Session of the Lok Sabha, stated that “the situation in Bangladesh will not degenerate into chaos and anarchy due to some very strong fundamental characters of Bangladeshi society and governance.”

“Bangladeshi identity is not only religious but also has a strong cultural and linguistic Bengali identity. Secondly, there is a mass political party in Bangladesh with the old tradition of democratic or semi-democratic politics,” it said. Thirdly, “Bangladesh Army is not the Pakistan Army and has refused to open fire on its own people”.

But recently Pakistan has expanded its footprint in Bangladesh, including the Army, where ISI Commander Muhammad Asim Malik was in Dhaka a few months ago.

There are also threats of takeover of the “Seven Brother” states in India’s north-east.

Therefore, Islamabad’s role in further destabilizing Bangladesh cannot be ignored.

The current situation and the failure of the Yunus-led administration to contain the violence has been criticized internally by various student leaders and prominent politicians who participated in the August 2024 Uprising.

Former BNP Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury termed the situation as “mobocracy” following the attack on the Indian Consulate in Chattogram during the nationwide violence.

BNP General Secretary Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir claimed that the worsening law and order situation was due to the failure of the interim government in Bangladesh.

The interim administration’s failure to address security issues ahead of critical general elections and a nationwide referendum had led to reports of possible intervention by the Army.

The Bangladesh Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Directorate has protested against what it called “a barrage of baseless and unfounded reports” on a possible coup and the breakdown in the Army’s chain of command.

ISPR had earlier affirmed that the Bangladesh Army remains “strong, united and fully committed to its constitutional duties”.

The official denial appeared to be targeted at domestic and international audiences to counter narratives of instability.

Following the developments, Bangladesh Chief of General Staff General Waker-Uz-Zaman recently called his Indian counterpart General Upendra Dwivedi and assured him of the security of all Indian assets.