Bangladesh News

In the face of strong objection from the advisers to the caretaker government (CG), the home ministry’s unilateral decision on deployment of army on Sunday without following proper procedure was cancelled yesterday.

Irked by the decision, the advisers observed that the decision and issuance of a circular to deploy army were gross mistakes, and the move was not taken in accordance with proper procedure.

At a meeting of the council of advisers yesterday, they also said it was not necessary to take such decision.

Venting their opinion at the meeting, the advisers said there is no need to deploy army in the prevailing situation.

Sources said the advisers demanded an explanation from the president and chief adviser on the unilateral circulation of the decision to deploy army.

At this stage, the home secretary was summoned to the meeting who told the council that he had issued the circular in consultation with the law secretary. Apparently enraged, the advisers asked for bringing in the law secretary.

But the law secretary failed to give any satisfactory explanations that further annoyed the advisers. And they told the meeting that it would not be possible for them to continue work if decisions were taken without following rules and keeping them uninformed.

“At (yesterday’s) council meeting, we have ascertained that the process of taking the decision and purpose of it were all wrong. Such a gross mistake is not acceptable in such a sensitive matter,” said Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury.

Sources said the advisers pointed out that if troops are deployed now and they creates any controversy, it will be hard for the army to work when they will be deployed during the next elections.

Though the whole episode left the advisers bewildered, they did not take any step yesterday to find out those behind this move and bring them to task.

When the home ministry circular had already reached various authorities concerned and even the media Sunday afternoon, the advisers were unaware of this decision. In the evening, when the advisers had a meeting with the chief adviser (CA) and president, who is also in-charge of the home ministry, they were still not informed about it.

“Such a decision cannot be taken by a ministry on its own. This must be discussed at the council,” said former army chief and Energy Ministry Adviser Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury yesterday.

“The most embarrassing thing is that although we were at the advisers’ council meeting Sunday evening, we were not informed about it,” he pointed out while talking to The Daily Star.

“At (yesterday’s) council meeting, we made sure that the process followed and purpose of taking this decision were all wrong. Such a gross mistake is not acceptable in such a sensitive matter,” he stressed.

“The rules of business clearly explains how such a decision should be taken through involving the council,” Mashhud noted. “If the authorities need the army, this must at first be suggested from a local level of the administration. Such an instruction cannot be imposed from the central level on a wholesale basis.

“We will remain alert about repetition of such embarrassing incidents in the future,” the former army chief said.

Asked whether they would take action against those involved in the process, he said, “It is the job of the home ministry high command to find out them. We are examining whether this was deliberate or not.”

In reply to a question on the presence of a government within the present government, Mashhud said, “There is no gap inside the government.”

He however said there were some initial glitches of lack of communication but now this has been taken care of. “Now, we all (advisers) can hear each other,” he quipped.

Talking to The Daily Star, Finance and Planning Adviser Dr Akbar Ali Khan said, “We have cancelled the decision (to deploy army) because this kind of plan is unnecessary. The laws of the land give a clear cut direction to the district administration about how to take help of the army.”

Replying to a question on how such a decision was taken, he said, “The president and chief adviser has told us that he would look into it.” Asked about punishment of those responsible, he said, “If an official violates service rules, a committee is formed and the official is given chance twice to defend himself in writing. After this, an action is taken. I was a government servant. I don’t want to comment on this matter further.”

On the question of the home secretary being a controversial person and whether he would be removed, Akbar said, “There is an advisory committee on administration headed by the chief adviser and aided by two advisers. I hope they would surely look into this matter.”

He went on, “Our main statement is that this kind of decision did not comply with the rules of business, which clearly states that any vital political decision cannot be taken without the approval of the council …You might want to credit us for cancelling such a wrong decision.”

Housing and Fisheries Adviser Dhiraj Kumar Nath felt the same way and expressed his embarrassment. Asked how such a decision was taken bypassing the advisers, he said, “Please don’t ask me that kind of question.”

Information Adviser Mahbubul Alam said the circular was not necessary. “If army deployment is necessary for any particular areas, the district magistrate can do the same under the existing criminal procedure code,” he added.

Sources said yesterday’s council meeting held between 11:00am 1:00pm at the CA’s office saw a lot of debates on this issue. All the advisers expressed their surprise on the matter.

SUNDAY’S CONTROVERSIAL MOVE
On Sunday, President and Chief Adviser Iajuddin Ahmed decided to deploy army across the country in aid of the civil administration to maintain law and order.

A letter was sent to the divisional and deputy commissioners to facilitate matters for the military forces. The letter signed by Home Secretary SM Jahurul Islam reads, “The government has decided to deploy military forces to aid the law enforcement agencies in maintaining the law and order.”

But a late night handout signed by a joint secretary of the home ministry said: “In fact, regarding the army deployment the government has decided that the troops might be deployed after taking into consideration the situation. Since no such situation has arisen, the decision to deploy the army has not yet been taken.”

The president/chief adviser did not mention even for once the decision to deploy army during two and half hours of his meeting with the advisers.

Just when everyone was preparing to sign off, he said he wants to invite the home secretary to hear about the latest situation regarding the 14-party blockade. The home secretary came in and casually said the Chittagong Port has become inoperative and this may necessitate military deployment.

The suggestion greatly annoyed the advisers, who said the implications of any such decision might be very grave both nationally and internationally. The secretary did not tell them that the decision to that effect had already been made and communicated to the local administration. The advisers left the meeting with the impression that it was just a plan and came to learn about the truth from the media afterwards.