Neighbouring Bangladesh is hotting up, not just literally in terms of the weather but also in terms of the political churn playing out under the shadow of changed geopolitical alignments.

As spring turns to autumn, Dhaka, which has been witnessing a chaotic breakdown in law and order since the August student revolt, which toppled the Sheikh Hasina government, has also seen political activities intensifying and a stern warning being issued by its army chief, Waker-Uz-Zaman, advising politicians and students to stop their often violent infighting, which has kept the nation on tenterhooks.

But first things first. On February 23, in an unprecedented move, students from Dhaka university took out a midnight demonstration demanding the resignation of Bangladesh’s home affairs advisor Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, a retired lieutenant general, for his government’s failure to protect common citizens from widespread extortion, crime, and attacks on liberals and women.

A worried Chowdhury called a press briefing at 2.30 am to promise action to retrieve the internal security situation, which has been palpably getting worse with daily reports of rapes, dacoities and kidnappings piling up. However, as luck would have it, journalists coming for the late-night presser were attacked, and the hapless home ministry head had little leg to stand on as he defended his regime’s internal security record.

Two days later, the army chief, in an unprecedented and stern address, delivered three key messages. First, he warned the political class, which, with the Awami League in hiding, currently consists of the students,........

© Free Press Journal