Less than a week after Donald Lu, US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, appeared on a Bangladeshi TV channel, making ‘phuchka’ or small, crispy puris in the company of America’s outgoing Ambassador Peter Haas, he was all fun and mirth.
On a two-day (May 14-16) visit to Dhaka, Lu made a startling revelation – again before TV news cameras – that the US was deeply interested in putting last year’s tensions in the past and looking forward to a warm and economically-meaningful relationship with Bangladesh.
While Opposition hearts sank, those in power were cautious and circumspect. Some others in the ruling Awami League were buoyant.
But it was well-past midnight in Bangladesh on May 21 when a State Department statement, that travelled like brush fire on social media, reached Dhaka to singe the Awami League government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The statement, by State Department spokesperson Mathew Miller, announced the “public designation” of former Bangladesh Army chief General Aziz Ahmed for his “involvement in significant corruption” which have “contributed to the undermining of Bangladesh’s democratic institutions and the public’s faith in public institutions and processes”.
This action will render Gen Aziz and his immediate family members to be ineligible for entry into the US. In other words, this is a form of sanction imposed on an individual. But more about Gen Aziz later.
This US action, the second in a span of one year – the first being the imposition of visa restrictions on individuals who took steps to undermine the conduct of a free and fair election in Bangladesh – is primarily aimed at three targets.
The first is, obviously, Sheikh Hasina and her government which itself is deeply mired in corruption and other instances of state excesses.
Apart from being Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina is also Bangladesh’s Defence Minister and all senior military appointments are made with her approval.
Gen Aziz was handpicked by Hasina in June 2018. He took little time to open the Army’s gates to all kinds of influences, including unaccounted for mysterious financial dealings, turning the military into a ‘corporate’ entity and taking steps to undermine the supremacy of the armed forces.
But Gen Aziz’s appointment as Chief of Staff was not an independent Bangladesh government decision. He was primed, prepared and propped up by New Delhi which had its own axe to grind by turning the powerful Army into a supine institution that would be at the beck-and-call of the country’s chief executive.
A corruption-ridden Army headed by a subservient chief was Hasina’s way to defang an institution some of whose officers had plotted to assassinate her father and Bangladesh’s founder Sheikh Mujibar Rahman on August 15, 1975.
The US’ second target is New Delhi which did everything in power, albeit in an underhand way, to plan and set in motion an electoral fraud that contributed to have Hasina ‘elect’ herself by bending every democratic rulebook.
The US could do little to prevent the Indian establishment from backing a discredited Awami League in general and Hasina in particular.
American frustration grew when Indian officials could not convince Hasina to grant its passage through Bangladeshi territory for military action against the Arakan Army in Myanmar’s Rakhine State.
There is now no knowing whether the US will at all be take any meaningful steps in the Rakhine State where a military stalemate persists between the Myanmar Army and the Arakan Army.
The US’ third target is the Bangladesh Army itself. While on one hand the Bangladesh Army since Gen Aziz’s tenure as Chief of Staff had turned considerably corrupt, it also went under India’s spell.
The current Chief of Staff, Gen S M Shafiuddin Ahmed, is an Indian favourite who has not shied away from cozying up with the Chinese. He is due to retire in June this year when his term ends.
The next chief is likely to be Lt Gen Waker-uz-Zaman who is related to Sheikh Hasina and is said to enjoy India’s patronage.
By targeting Gen Aziz, the American message is clear: fall in line or else other corrupt senior officers will likewise be slapped with sanctions. This message is aimed to instill fear in the Army’s higher echelons.
“The designation (against Gen Aziz) reaffirms the US commitment to strengthening democratic institutions and rule of law in Bangladesh. The United States supports anticorruption efforts in Bangladesh through assistance to make government services more transparent and affordable, improve the business and regulatory environment, and build capacity in investigating and prosecuting money laundering and other financial crimes,” the American statement says.
Terming the action against Gen Aziz as “long overdue”, Bangladeshi political analysts said that Lu’s latest visit to Dhaka and the State Department’s action was an “example of a carrot and stick policy”.
Apprehending “more action” by the US in July, these observers said that the “relevant files are ready” and more serving and retired government officials will be targeted in the days and weeks to come.
