Bangladesh’s army chief General Waqar-uz-Zaman on Monday said he will form an interim government after prime minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled Dhaka in the face of overwhelming protests.
“I am taking full responsibility. We will form an interim government,” Waqar said, dressed in military fatigues and cap although it was not immediately clear if he will be heading a caretaker government.
In a rare broadcast to the nation on state television, he said Sheikh Hasina has resigned. “The country has suffered a lot, the economy has been hit, many people have been killed — it is time to stop the violence. I hope after my speech, the situation will improve. We will not resolve anything using protests, we will put an end to anarchy,” he said, as the army prepares to take over Bangladesh.
The general said he will talk to the president to form the interim government and had held talks with the main opposition parties and civil society members — but not Hasina’s Awami League.
The interim government will reportedly be headed by Dr Salimullah Khan; Dr Asif Nazrul; Justice (Retd) Md Abdul Wahhab Miah; General (Retd) Iqbal Karim Bhuiyan; Major General (Retd) Syed Iftekhar Uddin; Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya; Matiur Rahman Chowdhury; Brigadier General (Retd) M Sakhawat Hossain; Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman; and Justice (Retd) MA Matin.
Waqar, who was appointed to the top job earlier this year, is a career infantry officer who has spent nearly four decades in the military, serving two tours as a UN peacekeeper as well as in the prime minister’s office. “If the situation gets better, there is no need for emergency”, he said, vowing the new authorities would “prosecute all murders” following weeks of deadly protests.
“Now the task of the students is to keep calm and help us,” he added.
Waqar further said he has asked both the army and police not to fire any shots. More than 100 people have been killed in the protests against the Hasina-led government over the past two days.
Bangladesh has been witnessing fierce demonstrations over the controversial quota system that reserves 30 per cent of jobs for the families of veterans who fought the 1971 liberation war.
BSF Orders ‘High Alert’ Along Bangladesh Border; DG, Senior Officers in Kolkata
The BSF issued a “high alert” across all its formations deployed along the 4,096-km Bangladesh border in the wake of the developments in the neighbouring country. BSF director general (acting) Daljit Singh Chawdhary and other senior commanders have landed in Kolkata to review the security situation, officials said.
A senior officer told PTI that the BSF has directed all its field commanders to be “on ground” and “deploy all personnel on border duty immediately”. The leaves of all the personnel posted along the Bangladesh border were cancelled in the last few weeks after the country witnessed massive protests, and now all units have been asked to “acquire an all alert posture”, the officer said.
The BSF guards the Indian front on the eastern flank of the country that runs along five states. West Bengal shares a total of 2,217 km of border with Bangladesh, along with Tripura (856 km), Meghalaya (443 km), Assam (262 km) and Mizoram (318 km).
(With agency inputs)
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