Opinion National Interest PoV 50-Word Edit

ThePrint On Camera Videos In Pictures

Society & Culture Around Town Book Excerpts Vigyapanti The Dating Story

More Judiciary Education YourTurn Work With Us Campus Voice

Opinion National Interest PoV 50-Word Edit

ThePrint On Camera Videos In Pictures

Society & Culture Around Town Book Excerpts Vigyapanti The Dating Story

More Judiciary Education YourTurn Work With Us Campus Voice

Hasina’s shadow ends careers in Bangladesh. After president, now army chief faces heat

Bangladesh’s ex-President Mohammed Shahabuddin Chuppu resigned two years earlier than the stipulated time. The spotlight is now on Chief of Army Staff General Waker-Uz-Zaman.

Any association with ousted Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina carries severe legal, political, and social risks in today’s Bangladesh. And you don’t have to be directly linked to her banned party, the Bangladesh Awami League, to feel the heat. Even a whiff of rumour linking you to the former prime minister will either make you a political untouchable or land you in jail. 

In the case of Bangladesh’s former President Mohammed Shahabuddin Chuppu, it has led to a resignation two years earlier than the stipulated time, citing bad health. The Bangladesh press has been writing reams on how the resignation came under political pressure ever since Hasina began speaking to the press of her wish to return to Bangladesh. It was also alleged that he held a secret phone call with Hasina in May during a medical trip to London.

With Chuppu gone, the spotlight is on yet another high-profile appointee, the Bangladesh Chief of Army Staff General Waker-Uz-Zaman. The question is, after Hasina’s first presser since her ouster two years ago, would there be pressure on the Tarique Rahman government to replace General Waker? Or would he manage to survive these testing times?

Phone call with Hasina

I had met Chuppu at his Dhaka office in February 2023, a day after he was declared president-elect. Chuppu had spoken to me about the horrific riots of 2001 after the Awami League lost power and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) sat on the throne........

© ThePrint