Immediately after taking charge as Bangladesh’s National Security Adviser (NSA) on April 9, one of the most important propositions that Khalilur Rahman made was the creation of his personal secretariat involving Army officers between the ranks of Brigadiers and Lieutenant Colonels.
The second decision that “interloper” Khalilur Rahman took was to adopt and pursue an unnecessarily quick policy decision on the Rakhine State in general and the Arakan Army in particular.
The two moves put him at loggerheads with Army chief General Waker-uz-Zaman who, since August 2024, has been the main force in providing political and social stability to a Bangladesh characterised by internal strife, political violence, absence of law and order and economic downturn.
Dhaka-based political analysts said that shortly after taking over as Bangladesh’s first ever NSA, Khalilur Rahman, brought to centrestage as High Representative to the Chief Adviser on Rohingya Issues in November 2024, demanded that he be given 20-25 Brigadiers and Lieutenant Colonels who would constitute a separate secretariat under him.
This proposal was shot down by the Army establishment, which said it did not have any Brigadiers and Lt Cols to spare for Khalilur Rahman. This caused the first point of friction between him and the Army chief, who is said to be a no–nonsense–but–not–rigid – officer.
Besides, by virtue of his position as the Army chief, Gen Zaman’s role in Bangladesh’s internal and external security is virtually unchallenged. Khalilur Rahman’s elevation as the NSA did precisely this: it set him on a collision course with Gen Zaman.
Secondly, barring a few units such as the 10th, 17th and 24th Infantry Divisions and the Principal Staff Officer in the Armed Forces Division (AFD) under the Chief Adviser’s Office, the other combat detachments are fully supportive of Gen Zaman.
Soon after assuming the NSA’s role, Khalilur Rahman visited the 10th Infantry Division’s Ramu-based headquarters and started issuing instructions and orders on matters related to the Arakan Army and the Yunus regime’s plans to dispatch supplies and offer logistical assistance to the Rakhine-based insurgent outfit.
This was anathema for the section within the Army that “firmly” backs Gen Zaman. For them, getting involved in the United States’ proxy war in Myanmar would not only be dangerous for Bangladesh, but it could put the country’s security establishment, especially the Army, at loggerheads with India, Russia and China.
The 10th Infantry Division, which was set on a “proactive course” by Khalilur Rahman a few days before he actually took charge as NSA, got a foretaste of what to expect on the military battlefield in the third week of March when two Bangladesh Army trucks set out for areas deep inside Rakhine State territory closer to positions held by the Myanmar military junta forces.
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The Army personnel in the trucks had to abandon their mission and turn around when the junta forces opened up artillery guns and shelled the oncoming vehicles carrying some supplies. This incident is known to most senior Bangladesh Army officers, including the Principal Staff Officer in the AFD, Lieutenant General Kamrul Hassan, who tried to keep it under wraps.
