Dhaka, Oct 12 (IANS) The International Crimes Tribunal in Bangladesh, recently, issued arrest warrants against 30 people, including former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and 24 military officers, 14 of whom are still in active service. It has never happened in Bangladesh’s history that a civilian court has sought to arrest such a large number of serving military officers.

Bangladesh interim government’s Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus, by undermining the morale of military, humiliating its officers and dragging them into politically engineered trials, wants to complete the conquest of state through terror masked as law, a report has said.

Justice Md Golam Mortuza Majumder of Tribunal-1 issued the order on October 6, where he directed authorities to present all the accused before the court by October 22, according to an opinion piece in NorthEast News. The accused include former heads of Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) and Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) intelligence—essentially targeting the agencies that protect the state’s security architecture.

In an opinion piece in NorthEast News, Aminul Hoque wrote: “Never before in Bangladesh’s history has a civilian court sought to arrest such a large number of serving military officers. The resulting tension within the armed forces is both palpable and unprecedented. What we are witnessing is not a pursuit of justice, but a calculated assault on the very institution that once ensured the state’s stability.”

Since seizing power in Bangladesh, Yunus and his un-elected cohort has tried to use the judiciary and the International Crimes Tribunal as a blunt instrument to destroy the Awami League and erase Sheikh Hasina’s legacy. The latest amendment on October 6 showcases tribunal’s political motive. It decrees that anyone accused under the law of tribunal must be suspended from any constitutional or public position and banned from contesting polls, according to a report in NorthEast News.

The regime, by turning legal machinery against its own protectors has opened a Pandora’s box, that could see several politicised cases designed to break the army’s morale and neutralise it as an independent force.

The report said: “This betrayal carries a bitter irony. The Yunus administration rose to power on the shoulders of the military, which deployed nationwide under the pretext of ‘restoring order.’ Yet after fourteen months of collaboration—willing or otherwise—the army finds itself the latest casualty of the very machine it enabled. Why this sudden hostility? Because the regime’s architects no longer need the army’s protection. Having already dismantled constitutional institutions—from the Election Commission to the Supreme Court—they now move to domesticate the military. The army’s cooperation lent legitimacy to a government that has suppressed civil rights, enabled mob violence, and empowered radical elements. The public’s trust in the forces has eroded. Now, with their image tarnished, Dr. Yunus and his deep-state backers are tightening the leash. The army can either remain a tool in their hands—or be dragged through the courts as scapegoats.”

According to the report, Bangladesh army chief’s request for protecting his officers has been rejected by the Chief Justice. In an opinion piece in NorthEast News, Aminul Hoque wrote: “Today, the creature they nurtured has turned on them. This is Bangladesh’s Frankenstein moment. By undermining the military’s morale, humiliating its officers, and dragging them into politically engineered trials, Dr. Yunus seeks to complete the conquest of the state—not through tanks, but through terror masked as law. Even more telling is the image of the Army Chief himself reportedly pleading with the Chief Justice to protect his officers—only to be refused.”

“That spectacle alone reveals how far the mighty have fallen. A soldier is trained to die for his commander’s word. He believes his superiors will, in turn, defend him. What happens when that faith collapses? When soldiers see their commander powerless—reduced to a pawn in a regime’s cynical game—the institution itself begins to die from within. And that, perhaps, is exactly what Dr. Yunus intends. The arrest warrants are not the end—they are merely the first shots in a war to break the army’s soul,” he added.

–IANS

int/akl/pgh