[🇧🇩] Everything about the interim government and its actions

[Saif]

July uprising will fail if we cannot build a better country than AL's: Asif Nazrul

Nazrul made these remarks last evening at a discussion held at the National Museum in Dhaka. The event was organised by the "Bangiya Sahitya Sabha," where he discussed his novel "Ami Abu Bakar"

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July uprising will fail if we cannot build a better country than AL's: Asif Nazrul

Law Adviser Dr Asif Nazrul has stated that if Bangladesh cannot be built back better than it was under the Awami League government, the July uprising will be considered a failure.

Nazrul made these remarks last evening at a discussion held at the National Museum in Dhaka. The event was organised by the "Bangiya Sahitya Sabha," where he discussed his novel "Ami Abu Bakar."

The law adviser said, "We used to hate the Awami League's politics of victimisation through tagging, and we still oppose it."

He explained that during the previous government's tenure, many students were falsely labelled as belonging to organizations like Jamaat-e-Islami or its student wing, Chhatra Shibir, not based on suspicion, but on a clear understanding. Despite knowing that these students were not involved with such groups, they were tortured under various tags in order to confiscate their laptops, harass them for entertainment, or bolster personal power.

The adviser added, "We have to be much better than the previous government's cruelty, inhumanity, immorality, politics of tagging, vulgarity, and inequality. Otherwise, the loss of so many students and young lives, the mutilation of so many people, will be a gross disrespect to them."

Nazrul further mentioned that under the previous government, there were unwritten rules in Bangladesh prohibiting discussion on three topics: one was about Sheikh Hasina, the second was about India, and the third, which he deemed controversial, would remain unspoken.

At the event, writers including Mahbub Murshed, Andalib Rashdi, Papri Rahman, Mohammad Nazim Uddin, Md Rashed Khan, and Salah Uddin Shubhra, among others, discussed the relevance of Dr Asif Nazrul's novel "Ami Abu Bakar" and his contribution to fighting against injustice.​

 

[Saif]

'How many months does the interim govt need to repair the state?'

Tarique Rahman questions interim govt’s transparency

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'How many months does the interim govt need to repair the state?'
Tarique Rahman questions interim govt’s transparency

File photo

BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman today criticised the interim government for failing to provide a clear electoral roadmap, stating that any unease over transparency would go against public aspirations.

Speaking at a discussion in Dhaka, Tarique said, "If signs of unease emerge in the interim government merely from the mention of action plans and roadmap, it would definitely go against public aspirations."

He emphasised the need for clarity, asking, "What does the current interim government intend to do? How many months or how much time does the interim government need to repair the state? The people have the right to know this."

Tarique highlighted the importance of transparency, adding, "If the government announces its action plans and roadmap to the public, it will ensure transparency and accountability to the people."

He reiterated that citizens deserve to understand the interim government's timeline and strategies for state repair.​

 

[Saif]

'A brilliant lawyer, a defender of rights'

Chief adviser leads tribute to adviser AF Hassan Ariff who died at a Dhaka hospital today

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'A brilliant lawyer, a defender of rights'
Chief adviser leads tribute to adviser AF Hassan Ariff who died at a Dhaka hospital today

AF Hassan Ariff, adviser to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism and the Ministry of Land, has passed away at a hospital in the capital. He was 85.

Mohammad Nasir Uddin, his personal secretary, told UNB that Ariff collapsed while having lunch at home today.

He was rushed to the hospital where doctors confirmed he had suffered a cardiac arrest. He was pronounced dead at 3:10 pm.

Ariff's first namaz-e-janaza was held at Baitul Aman Mosque on Dhanmondi Road 7 after the Isha prayers. Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus, including other dignitaries, attended it.

Ariff will be buried in the Mirpur Intellectuals' graveyard after another namaz-e-janaza on the High Court premises at 11:00am today, according to a statement from the Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry's notification.

As the news of death spread, tributes poured in from across the political spectrum.

In his condolence message, President Mohammed Shahabuddin expressed his deep shock over his death and said that his death was an irreparable loss for Bangladesh.

The president prayed for the eternal peace of the deceased's soul and expressed his deepest condolences to his bereaved family.

Condoling his death, Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus paid rich tribute to Hassan Ariff's decades-long public service.

"I am deeply shocked at his sudden demise. Adviser Hassan Ariff was a top lawyer who played a very significant role in the interim government," said Prof Yunus, who learnt the news of the adviser's demise as soon as he landed in Dhaka from Dubai after attending the D-8 summit in Egypt.

"He will be remembered as a brilliant lawyer and for his legal activism and defending human rights of dissidents, dissenting voices, and the marginalised people of our society," he added.

Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed also expressed deep shock at the demise of the adviser and conveyed his condolences to the bereaved family.

Meanwhile, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir visited Labaid Specialised Hospital to pay respects to the late adviser.

Describing Hassan Ariff as not only a renowned lawyer but also a man who deeply believed in democracy, Fakhrul said, "I believe he was very much needed during this period of democratic transition."

In separate messages, advisers to the interim government, including Home Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed, Foreign Adviser Touhid Hossain, Environment Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan, Law Adviser Asif Nazrul, also condoled the death of Hassan Ariff, reports BSS and UNB.

Ariff was appointed as an adviser to the interim government on August 8. The following day, he was entrusted with overseeing the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives (LGRD).

On August 27, he took on additional responsibilities as the adviser to the Ministry of Land.

On November 10, he was released from the LGRD Ministry and tasked with managing the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism while continuing to oversee the Land Ministry.

AF Hassan Ariff had a distinguished legal career spanning over five decades. He began his practice at the Calcutta High Court in 1967.

In 1970, he relocated to Dhaka, enrolling in the High Court, and later founded AF Hassan Ariff & Associates, a leading law firm with offices in Dhaka and Chattogram.

He served as Bangladesh's Attorney General from October 2001 to April 2005 and as the Law Adviser (Cabinet Minister) of the Caretaker Government from January 2008 to January 2009.

An authority in constitutional law, commercial arbitration and public procurement, Ariff was a panellist at the Bangladesh International Arbitration Centre (BIAC), SAARC Arbitration Council and Shanghai Arbitration Commission. He also held the position of Court Member at the ICC International Court of Arbitration.

He advised numerous government and corporate entities, including the Roads and Highways Department, Bangladesh Bank, and Chittagong Port Authority, along with telecom giants Robi Axiata and Grameenphone.

Beyond his legal practice, he was a resource person for the Bangladesh Bar Council's Continuing Legal Education and Human Rights Training Program and a prominent member of the International Business Forum of Bangladesh.

In 2010, he led the Election Observer Mission for the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) in Manila, Philippines.​

 

[Saif]

অন্তর্বর্তী সরকারের উপদেষ্টা সাবেক অ্যাটর্নি জেনারেল হাসান আরিফ মারা গেছেন

 

[Saif]

Our expectations of this government should match its competence

If we grasp that our expectations were unrealistic, a decline in our expectations of the interim government need not entail a sense of disappointment.

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Our expectations of this government should match its competence

Nobel Laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus is sworn in as the chief adviser of the interim government by President Mohammed Shahabuddin in Dhaka on August 8, 2024. FILE PHOTO: PID

However lacklustre the interim government might seem today, it is still the best government one could have hoped for in August. Amid the chaos, an administration was cobbled together and appointments made with only such care and political acumen as an academic and his confidantes could muster under pressure.

Prof Muhammad Yunus was, of course, the right person at the right moment. He brought huge symbolic power, and, more importantly for a mandate, he enjoyed the respect of the student movement that had led the revolution, suffered for it, and had thereby come to define the nation's moral compass. But, even as we fully supported Yunus's leadership, older observers no doubt recalled the professor's abortive attempt 17 years ago to start a party. The hope this time around was that an older and wiser Yunus would enlist enough talent to make up for any shortfall in capability and vision.

The availability and conscription of talent has been an issue. In the first few months, a number of senior appointments were made only for the appointee to withdraw their name within days. And there has been a failure to recruit people with requisite skills into poorly paid government and agency roles relating to finance and economics, such as at the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission.

Moreover, if diaspora associations of Bangladeshis are to be believed, the interim government has failed to avail itself of the country's brain drain of talented Bangladeshis who left for American universities and then went on to develop skills in demanding professional roles abroad, but who, apparently, stood ready to return and provide their services pro bono publico. But quality was never the priority in exigent circumstances. This was and remains an emergency government.

If we grasp that our expectations were unrealistic, a decline in our expectations of the interim government need not entail a sense of disappointment. In a recent interview with the editor of this daily, the chief adviser issued a corrective, again, when he said, "We are not rulers but facilitators." This is hardly the revolutionary rhetoric of radical reform; our expectations should correspond accordingly.

What expectations, then, should we have? Told repeatedly to vest hope in various commissions, we might have looked to their terms of reference. But, despite promises, terms were never published, and it now appears none of the commissions received any.

Mercifully, if promises are kept, we are only two or so weeks from recommendations from key commissions. But, again, we should temper expectations: in the same aforementioned interview, the chief adviser emphasised that recommendations would be acted on if and only so far as consensus among political parties allowed. In recent comments, he added that another commission would be formed, this time to build such consensus. And, in a dramatic turn, he indicated that elections might come as early as the end of 2025, which immediately had many wondering whether anything more than anaemic reforms could achieve sufficient political consensus to be pushed through in under a year.

Change will take time and will require competences yet to come. We can look forward to the imminent recommendations of commissions, we can even hope for great things in the years ahead, but we should temper our expectations of the administration before us now. Unless we shift our horizons and look to the longer term for transformation, the risk of disappointment will loom large. Such disappointment is the breeding ground for the authoritarianism that has swept over so much of the world. Bangladeshis already know what authoritarianism looks like. No one keen to see the nation flourish would want its return.

No sooner had the chief adviser mentioned the prospect of a short timetable than leaders of the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, the Anti-Discrimination Students' Movement, and the Bangladesh Students' Union all demanded that key reforms be completed before holding elections.

It is increasingly apparent that the student movement could emerge next year as the interim government's greatest critics. Driven by a sense of justice, not least to honour the sacrifices of their peers, will students abide anything less than radical reforms? Adviser Nahid Islam, for instance, has scarcely been shy with talk of banning political parties and punishing journalists deemed to have aided the former regime. His public remarks have often been hastily followed by other advisers' efforts to roll back what he said.

The dynamic between the interim government and the student movement may yet decide the former's fate. To some, a full-throated launch of a new student political party might seem slow in coming, but, in fact, both the student movement and the government may regard it as in their respective interests to delay such launch. For one thing, the movement would lose its authority as the nation's independent moral compass above the party fray. For another, since this authority brought Prof Yunus on stage, a fully fledged student political party would deprive the interim government of some of its moral patronage, mandate, and advisers. The prospect is not fanciful of the student movement taking to the streets again, later in the year, this time to demand an ambitious reform programme. It's not even too much of a stretch to imagine the interim government privately welcoming this as a means to overcome institutional sclerosis and break through political resistances to the substantial reform it might wish to carry through.

There are also global reasons to manage our expectations of the interim government. If Bangladesh aspires to have liberal democracy—meaning, broadly speaking, democratic pluralism with the rule of law and protections for the rights of minorities—it will be swimming against the global current. These days, the US, France, Germany, and a host of other countries (such as South Korea) are hardly resounding advertisements for liberal democracy. Liberal democracy is losing or loosening its moorings, in countries where one might once have naively thought a version of liberal democracy had achieved permanence, marking an end to a history of grand, ideological struggles.

The theme throughout is the failure of a global economic order to deliver to most citizens; the majority in the US, the UK, France and elsewhere have seen no real growth in household incomes in decades—in the case of the US, for well over three decades. In a climate of economic insecurity and disappointment, right-wing demagogues have marched in with little more to offer than a pretence of upsetting the applecart.

I mention all this because speaking to the business community has concentrated my attention on economic missteps, as has recognising that it's rare—some would say unheard of—for a country to secure liberal democracy without first finding a firm economic foundation. I can't think of any.

Since August, there have been too many economic errors and missed opportunities. One of the world's leading venture capital operations visited Bangladesh to discuss investment in the country. They were not taken seriously, I'm informed, by that tired old Dhaka elite we're all familiar with, an elite that stands to lose some privileges when or if Bangladesh enters the next phase of economic development, a phase in which, among other things, investment capital must be better able to reach the best and the brightest, and, incidentally, stem the drain of talent.

I reflect more and more on what brought us here in the first place. Against a backdrop of massive and rising youth unemployment and an economy stalling for two years after a long period of growth, students took to the streets protesting a quota system that blocked one of the few routes to a measure of personal economic security.

Change will take time and will require competences yet to come. We can look forward to the imminent recommendations of commissions, we can even hope for great things in the years ahead, but we should temper our expectations of the administration before us now. Unless we shift our horizons and look to the longer term for transformation, the risk of disappointment will loom large. Such disappointment is the breeding ground for the authoritarianism that has swept over so much of the world. Bangladeshis already know what authoritarianism looks like. No one keen to see the nation flourish would want its return.

Zia Haider Rahman, a former international human rights lawyer and head of research at Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), is the author of the novel 'In the Light of What We Know.'​

 

[Saif]

July revolution and Prof Yunus: A winning combination

A transition from a dictatorial regime to democracy is almost akin to breathing life into a corpse.

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July revolution and Prof Yunus: A winning combination

Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus is pictured during a press briefing as he arrives at the Hazarat Shahjalal International Airport, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, August 8, 2024. FILE PHOTO: REUTERS

When Prof Yunus was sworn in as the chief adviser of the interim government on August 8 of this year, a feeling of déjà vu consumed me. I was transported back to 2006, when I was a graduate student at a university in California. I was working out at the gym in the morning. The TV right in front of my treadmill flashed Prof Yunus, as the newscaster mentioned that he had won the Nobel Peace Prize. I jumped out of the gym and started running to the office of my course coordinator. Before she could greet me as she suddenly found me next to her chair, I said, "Dr Lynne, a Bangladeshi won the Nobel Peace Prize this year." She smiled and said, "We know Professor Yunus. You are the next." I was so delightfully delusional that I had no idea what she meant. All I knew was that Bangladesh achieved nothing more dignified and desirable than winning the Nobel Peace Prize since our independence in 1971. When I left her office, I realised that Prof Yunus had re-defined Bangladesh, which was off to a new beginning. Unfortunately, nothing apparently has changed since. Politics has swamped everything.

While our political crisis climaxed this past July, Bangladesh has always been politically precarious since its bloody birth in 1971. The lever of political power alternated between demagogues and dictators. Most of them were intellectually half-baked. They understood neither politics, nor economics. All of them were apparently con artists. They attempted to become popular, while their credibility nixed. They rigged elections. They celebrated trumped-up victories. They led without knowing whatsoever how a country runs. The country runs anyway, backward or forward, with or without a leader. A gated community of gonifs (the Hanifs, in our case!) feeds the fantasy of such a leader that she is inevitable and accomplished. While she ensconces herself in power and pride, the carpetbaggers erode the vitals of the country. Mismanagement metastasises. People feel betrayed and vulnerable. What happens when such political paralysis persists? Hasina happens! Fascism happens! Genocide happens! In a political climate such as this, winning a Nobel Prize is apparently criminal. No wonder that they filed 198 court cases against Prof Yunus, as Deutsche Welle claims. Nothing, however, diminishes the fact that Prof Yunus is our one-off achievement. He has the charisma and credibility to help the nation achieve further.

The Hasnats knew it. When the July revolution culminated in Hasina's flight from the country on the August 5, the architects of the revolution (i.e., the student coordinators) realised that it occasioned an extraordinary opportunity to reclaim and reform the country that the Hasinas continue to own and run and ruin for decades. Unless a comprehensive electoral, judicial, financial, bureaucratic, and constitutional reform is enacted, the Hasinas will continue to kill the Abu Syeds. The nation will continue to barrel backward, when crime, corruption, and injustice mount. Under these circumstances, the country didn't need a steward, who could smoothly transition power through an election. The country needed a reformer, who would ensure a fair and participatory election having undertaken some fundamental reforms. The country needed someone, who was authentic and exemplary. Only Prof Yunus seemed to have the sentimental and professional capital to fill the slot. Hasina's government was so disconnected from the people that they didn't realise that the more they disgraced Prof Yunus, the more love and respect and empathy hemmed around him. Add to that his accomplishments, global connections, and reputation. When he consented to become the chief adviser of the interim government, the most critical foundation of the July revolution was laid.

As we started to look forward when the interim government took over, the forces of the fallen regime threatened to push us backward. Movements erupted. Law and order deteriorated. The country seemed volatile and unpredictable. People started to feel hopeless and helpless. The interim government looked severely strained. Such a situation was very unfortunate but was never unexpected. Hasina flooded the country with illegal arms and money. The country was already massively insecure and explosive. The agents of anarchy stalked all around the country. They resisted, as Hasina suddenly sneaked out of the country. And their resistance was not political; it was existential, instead. They stood exposed and felt endangered, as Hasina's regime fizzled. They wanted her back for their survival. Hasina has been a textbook example of a dictator, like the Peruvian dictator, Óscar R Benavides, who famously said, "For my friends everything, for my enemies the law." She changed the political culture and calculus of the country so irreversibly during the last 15 years that a quick-fix is unlikely. However, the "reset button" is already set. As things gradually continue to fall on the right track, we must remember that Prof Yunus is anything but a magician.

A transition from a dictatorial regime to democracy is almost akin to breathing life into a corpse. Dictators are addicted to killing. They kill people. They kill institutions. They kill courage and conviction. Along the way, they massively infiltrate the members of incestuously interconnected families into a system that thrives in isolation, intimidation, and pessimism. Resistance and unity dwindle. Stupidity becomes strength. Arrogance becomes a virtue. In the meantime, some bridges, flyovers, and tunnels happen. The cronies besetting the dictator construct a grand narrative of development claiming, "She has shown us out of pobeti [sic]."

Hasina's Bangladesh was a political circus. She had "LOL" models to rule the country, who were devoid of brainpower, integrity, and patriotism. Prof Yunus exists at the opposite end of such a political spectrum. He is an intellectual, who is worldly. He knows how politics functions. His vision of the world is not romantic or recondite. He wants the political system re-shaped around the economics of zero poverty, zero unemployment, and zero net carbon emissions. He is deeply invested in making the world a better place. Besides, he has aged gracefully. He is never publicly angry or annoyed. He maintains a low-key demeanour. A personality of his stature doesn't fit in the political mess that Hasina's Bangladesh was. It's, however, no longer Sheikh Hasina's Bangladesh, as our Law Adviser Asif Nazrul said.

Therefore, Prof Yunus becomes critical to guiding and transforming the nation to a new height. The nation wants to get out of the politics of bullshitting and blood-shedding. However capable Prof Yunus potentially is, we must not forget that he has inherited bankruptcy. Hasina left the country shattered. Hasina was psychologically unhinged. She was a narcissistic megalomanic. She was always smut and huffy, when she pretended that she was above human follies. She never confessed to have erred. For example, she bragged about her zero-tolerance policy to corruption, when she claimed that her peon scrounged around Tk 400 crores. Citing the governor of Bangladesh Bank, The New York Times reported recently that about $17 billion was syphoned from the country's financial system in the 15 years of Hasina's regime. The country is apparently cash-strapped now. When the country reels under heavy foreign loans incurred by Hasina's government, the interest rates continue to spike, adding further financial burden to the interim government. Inflation increases and the prices of commodities spike. It's a vicious cycle the interim government is trapped in, which seriously threatens its popularity and capacity. Policing would have contributed to streamlining commodity prices to some extent. The police department has crumbled under its own crime and corruption, thanks to Hasina. While considerable improvement is visible on these fronts, I apprehend that these problems might linger a little longer.

Under any circumstances, though, nothing can fracture Prof Yunus's fortitude. He is focused on and heading steadily toward the goals the Tabassums, along with the rest of the people of this country, want him to accomplish. Never before has so much possibility beckoned Bangladesh. Never before have so many problems beset Bangladesh. The country is hollow at the core. Conspiracies and propaganda brew constantly. Neighbourly knavery flares up. We are in an extraordinary phase of our national history. If we don't move ahead cautiously, tomorrow's Bangladesh is anyone's guess. Arundhati Roy reminds us in her Boston Review interview, "How to Think About Empire," what Prof Yunus reiterates since he took over that we must not fool ourselves into believing that the change we want will come with fresh election as the "old *&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&" are out of office. They will bounce in if we renew the politics of voting with the same old system in place. That's not an option for the new Bangladesh that emerged following the July revolution.

It was a goosebump moment for me when Prof Yunus won the Nobel Prize in 2006, and the same feeling renewed in 2024, when he was sworn in as chief adviser. I'm persuaded to think that no one is more poised to embody and draw from the unity and harmony that the July revolution built across Bangladesh. We needed a stalwart, who is above partisan interest and material greed, for Bangladesh to emerge anew. We have it now.

Relax, Bangladesh!

Dr Mohammad Shamsuzzaman is associate professor at the Department of English and Modern Languages in North South University (NSU).​

 

[Saif]

'Interim govt weakest in history', polls should be held by 2025

BNP Vice President Asaduzzaman Ripon says such a weak govt may put independence and sovereignty at risk, worsen the law and order situation

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'Interim govt weakest in history', polls should be held by 2025

BNP Vice President Asaduzzaman Ripon says such a weak govt may put independence and sovereignty at risk, worsen the law and order situation
calls for elections by 2025

Describing the interim government led by Dr Muhammad Yunus as the weakest in the country's history, BNP senior leader Asaduzzaman Ripon today said the next election must be held by 2025 to establish an elected administration.

"The current interim government is the weakest in history. With such a weak government in power, the country's independence and sovereignty could be at risk, the law and order situation may worsen, and economic instability may arise. So, an elected government accountable to the people is essential," he told a discussion.

Zia Shishu-Kishor Mela, a pro-BNP platform, organised the programme at the Jatiya Press Club, marking the 29th death anniversary of late Zahid Hossain Chunnu, former cultural secretary of BNP and former convener of the Jatiyatabadi Samajik Sangskritik Sangstha (Jasas).

Ripon, a BNP vice chairman, said the people of Bangladesh will not accept it if the current government wants to cling to power for years in the name of reforms.

"The election must be arranged by 2025 by completing all the necessary reforms," he asserted.

Ripon, also a former president of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, said the lack of credible elections has created all the crises the country now faces.

"Elections are the cause of all the crises in Bangladesh. A properly elected government can never be an autocrat."

The BNP leader said the interim government, though talks of reforms, has failed to show visible efforts to complete the overhauling of state institutions.

Ripon said despite the ouster of Sheikh Hasina's government, the nation is yet to overcome the crisis.

"We are still in a great crisis. Our leader Tarique Rahman has repeatedly said the upcoming elections will be difficult as conspiracies are being hatched against BNP. So, we must reach out to the people and gain their trust," he said.

The BNP leader also urged everyone to be cautious, as politics before and after August 5 are not the same.

Ripon also called upon everyone, including students, not to create divisions over the roles they played in the July-August uprising.

"We must note one thing the movement can't be divided in any way. The spirit of the movement cannot be divided. If we do so, the fallen dictator will benefit from it. So, we can't allow the autocrats to make political gains," he said.​

 

[Saif]

Govt warns bureaucrats of stern action

The government yesterday issued a stern warning to the officials of 26 cadres, stating that disciplinary action will be taken for violating the Government Servants (Conduct) Rules-1979.

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Govt warns bureaucrats of stern action
Public admin ministry issues directive relating to protests over benefits

The government yesterday issued a stern warning to the officials of 26 cadres, stating that disciplinary action will be taken for violating the Government Servants (Conduct) Rules-1979.

Referring to recent protests over promotion-related benefits, the public administration ministry said in a circular that the officials must adhere to the rules.

"Those who fail to comply with the rules will face actions under the Discipline and Appeal Rules-2018," the circular reads.

The directive follows protests triggered by a statement from the Administrative Reforms Commission that it was considering a proposal to revise the current promotion ratio for the post of deputy secretary.

Currently, 75 percent of promotions to deputy secretary are allocated to administration cadre officials, with the remaining 25 percent going to other cadres.

The reform commission recently proposed changing this ratio to 50:50, sparking protests from both sides. Administration cadre officers are demanding that 100 percent of promotions be reserved for them, while officials from other cadres are calling for equal opportunities.

The protests have included rallies, work stoppages, human chains, and discussions.

Despite the ministry's warning, officials from the 25 non-administration cadres are planning a discussion at the Krishibid Institution Bangladesh in the capital on January 3.

Mohammad Mofizur Rahman, coordinator of the non-administration cadre officials' movement, said, "We will hold a discussion that will not violate the code of conduct. Therefore, we will proceed with the programme as planned."

In its notice yesterday, the public administration ministry said some government officials had violated the code of conduct through activities such as protests, human chains, and inappropriate social media posts.

The ministry warned that such actions tarnish the image of government employees and emphasised the need to comply with Rule 30 of the code.

The Rule 30 prohibits publicly opposing or obstructing government decisions or orders, directly or indirectly; expressing dissatisfaction or discontentment publicly with government decisions; exerting undue influence to alter, revise, or cancel any government decision; and creating or inciting dissatisfaction or hostility among government employees.

According to the notice, violations of these rules will be considered misconduct under the Government Servants (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 2018, and the offenders will face disciplinary actions.

MINISTRY FOR ACTION AGAINST SEVEN OFFICIALS

The public administration ministry has recently written to several other ministries urging actions against at least seven cadre officials for violating the rules.

Among the seven, Sadiqur Rahman Sabuj, former regional executive officer (administration cadre) of Gazipur City Corporation, has already been suspended for making inflammatory remarks about other cadres on Facebook.

The six other officials include Emdadul Haque Russell, junior consultant (health cadre) at Munshiganj Upazila Health Complex, Jahangir Alam, livestock officer (livestock cadre) in Panchagarh, Anwar Milon, lecturer (education cadre) at Government Haji Abdul Aziz Khan Degree College in Netrokona, Tanvir Khan, lecturer at Jokiganj Government College in Sylhet, and Rafiqul Jamadar and Ashim Chandra Sarkar, from unspecified cadres.

The public administration ministry has attached copies of the officials' controversial social media posts to the letters. The Daily Star has seen these copies.

Criticising the officials' actions, Firoz Mia, a former additional secretary and public administration expert, said, "They are behaving like trade union [CBA] leaders, which is unacceptable. The government should have taken stricter measures against them earlier."​