Wat-Not Staff
Former Bangladesh Army Maj Gen Ziaul Ahsan, recently dismissed following Sheikh Hasina’s resignation, has been arrested on murder charges.
Maj Gen Ahsan Detention
A day after Sheikh Hasina stepped down and fled to India, Maj Gen Ziaul Ahsan was sacked by Bangladesh Army chief Gen Waker-uz-Zaman.
He was replaced by Maj Gen ASM Ridwanur Rahman as the new director general of the National Telecommunication and Monitoring Centre (NTMC), marking a significant shake-up in the army’s leadership.
Ahsan, commissioned into the Bangladesh Army in 1991, was a commando and paratrooper who also served in the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB). He joined RAB as a deputy commander in March 2009, shortly after the Awami League took power.
On August 14, Mayer Dak, a civil society group representing families of those who disappeared during Hasina’s rule, gave the interim government a 24-hour ultimatum to arrest those responsible for the enforced disappearances. The group’s demands included the arrest of Ahsan.
During a human chain protest in front of the National Press Club, Sanjida Islam Tuli, coordinator of Mayer Dak, said, “We are giving a 24-hour ultimatum: Ziaul Ahsan, Tarique Siddiqui, and other officials involved in these disappearances must be arrested immediately. They must provide information about the missing persons so they can be freed and reunited with their families.
Bangladesh’s Coup d’état
In Bangladesh, a massive youth-led protest against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina led to her resignation and escape from the country on August 5, 2024. What started as a student protest over job quotas quickly grew into a nationwide movement demanding Hasina’s removal.
The quota system, which reserved civil service jobs for veterans’ relatives, was seen as unfair and favouring Hasina’s party. High unemployment and economic issues fueled the anger. The government’s harsh response, including internet blocks and curfews, only intensified the protests.
The violence reached its peak on August 4, with at least 91 deaths and hundreds injured. An interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus is now in charge, and the opposition party has supported the student demonstrators.
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