Bangladesh’s Army chief General ‘Manager’ Waker-uz-Zaman appears to have handled the issue of arrest and subsequent production of 14 officers, including some brigadiers and colonels, at the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) quite adroitly. By allowing the accused officers to be produced before the ICT judges today while paving the way for their incarceration (in judicial custody) in a ‘sub-jail’ in Dhaka Cantonment, he has successfully averted sentiments from boiling over within the Army.
A few days ago, Gen Zaman and Principal Staff Officer in the Armed Forces Division (AFD) Lieutenant General S M Kamrul Hassan met Chief Adviser Mohammad Yunus to share a plan on ‘managing’ a process involving taking into custody the accused officers, new quarters (an existing Very Senior Officers’ Quarters in the cantonment), the sub-jail (a Mechanical Engineering Service property), their transportation in a large air-conditioned bus and the early morning production before the ICT judges.
The accused officers were shifted to the sub-jail after they were produced before the ICT judges. The Army chief’s position on the accused officers is now clear: he is prepared to abide by the ICT order but he has ensured that the officers in question are not treated at par with common undertrials or even Awami League leaders lodged at the high-security Kashimpur prison.
Ever since he took charge of Bangladesh’s internal affairs, beginning two days before the August 5, 2024, departure of the then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India, Gen Zaman has been treading a cautious path: not only did he balance the political parties, some clamouring for elections while others stood in favour of deferring the polls to an unspecified date, but he cracked down on the banned Awami League in Gopalganj.
Gen Zaman displayed considerable poise – and firmness – when he dealt with the controversy arising out of the “humanitarian corridor” issue, which was part of National Security Adviser (NSA) Khalilur Rahman’s plan to operationalise the dispatch of so-called aid material to Myanmar’s Rakhine State in general and the Arakan Army in particular. He stepped in when the political parties, especially the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), stood opposed to Khalilur Rahman’s move.
He did have differences with Lt Gen Kamrul Hassan, which he balanced adequately with the support of others, such a Lt Gen Faizur Rahman whom he had appointed as the Quarter Master General (QMG).
But Gen Zaman stood out most as a skillful manager in matters concerning the very institution that he heads. In the initial phase of uncertainty that prevailed once Hasina flew off to New Delhi, he made critical changes in the upper echelons of the Army.
He took little time to replace the then DGFI chief Maj Gen Hamidul Huq, moved Lt Gen Faizur Rahman as the QMG, shifted a Hasina loyalist Lt Gen Mizanur Rahman Shamim as the Chief of General Staff, did not come in Yunus’ way to appoint Lt Gen Kamrul Hassan as the PSO and took decisions on sundry other postings in key areas within the Army, virtually establishing near-total control over the officer corps.
In one of the most adept decisions related to the officer corps, Gen Zaman pushed Yunus not to sit on files related to the promotion of major generals, brigadiers and colonels. This allowed him to staff his loyalists in key positions in the middling and senior ranks, even as some “followers” retired from service.
Gen Zaman exhibited considerable maturity in handling the tricky security situation arising out of the pressure exerted by external forces, including the US. While the Indian foreign and security establishments had withdrawn – after August 5, 2024 – from playing any decisive role in Bangladesh’s internal and external affairs, the US, especially the American embassy in Dhaka, turned pro-active.
General ‘Manager’ Zaman rose to the occasion. On the one hand, he remained aloof as far as New Delhi was concerned, showing little or no interest in publicly engaging with either senior officers of the Indian national security bureaucracy or the Army. He left this to his immediate subordinates. A case in point is the cancellation of his October 13-16 visit to New Delhi, where he chose Army Training and Doctrine Command (ARTDOC) General Officer Commanding Lt Gen Muhammad Mainur Rahman.
However, when a three-member team of Indian Army Military Intelligence officers visited Bangladesh between October 14 and 17, he did not shy away from engaging with them. He met them in secrecy and took them along on an “unscheduled” helicopter trip in north Bangladesh, where officers from the two sides visited Lalmohirhat and Thakurgaon airbases and conducted joint aerial observation of certain sites in Nilphamari and Saidpur. These four locations are in Bangladesh’s Rangpur Division.
Since ‘unofficially’ taking charge as Bangladesh’s most influential decision-maker, Gen Zaman has tread a cautious path, but his tenure has generated heated debates on the Army’s demographics, especially the ideological orientations of the rank and file.
On October 8, in the immediate wake of the ICT’s arrest warrant order, the bulk of the senior officers, including major generals, backed Gen Zaman on 24 officers who have so far been charged for their alleged involvement in enforced disappearances, secret detentions and torture during Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year-long tenure as prime minister. Only about four major generals voiced their opinion against the ICT order. This was strong enough ground for Gen Zaman to acquiesce with the tribunal’s decision, but with his own riders.
More than a battlefield commander, Gen Zaman has appeared as a clever, intelligent, astute and intuitive leader who is prepared to accommodate on matters of national security and politics. Just as a general manager in a corporate entity, who develops strategy, oversees operations, manages budgets, leads staff to achieve organisational goals and ensures efficiency, General ‘Manager’ Waker-uz-Zaman is doing all he can to shape and fashion a new image for the Army, which previously had an unenviable record in its equations with power.
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When he completes his tenure in June 2026, when he turns 60, he will leave many in Bangladesh with the question – Who is Gen Waker-uz-Zaman? A balancer or a general manager?
