Bangladesh deploys paramilitary forces at secretariat as employees' protest enters 4th consecutive day

The Print

27-05-2025

The BGB, SWAT, and RAB enforced a stricter vigil along with regular police and their other special units at the scene, where student-run outfit July Mancha, an ally of the interim government, also staged a rally, relatively smaller, outside the secretariat, condemning the protestors.
Paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), the police's Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) unit, and elite anti-crime Raid Action Battalion (RAB) were stationed at the entrances of the secretariat complex housing ministries and important offices, while journalists and visitors were debarred from entering the compound.
Dhaka/New Delhi, May 27 (PTI) Bangladesh's interim government led by Muhammad Yunus on Tuesday deployed paramilitary forces at the secretariat as protests by government employees against a new service law, which allows easier dismissal of officials for misconduct, entered the fourth consecutive day at the central administrative hub.
Government employees continued their protests for the fourth straight day on Tuesday, demanding the repeal of the Public Service (Amendment) Ordinance-2025, bringing administrative activities at the Secretariat to a halt, The Dhaka Tribune newspaper reported.
The protesters, who are terming the ordinance an 'unlawful black law', chanted slogans rejecting its legitimacy. The protesters chanted slogans such as 'The fire has been lit in our blood,' 'Abolish the unlawful black law,' 'Employees reject this illegal law,' 'We will not accept it,' 'Unite 18 lakh workers,' and 'No compromise, only struggle', it said.
On Monday, the Public Security Division of the Home Ministry restricted all types of visitor entry to the secretariat for Tuesday.
The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) also imposed a ban on rallies and gatherings in the secretariat and adjacent areas.
The ordinance, issued by the president on Sunday evening, allows the government to dismiss employees for four types of disciplinary breaches through a show-cause notice, without initiating formal departmental proceedings, the newspaper said.
Following the approval of the draft law by the Council of Advisers on Thursday, secretariat employees began staging protests, calling the law unjust and unconstitutional.
On Sunday, all employee organisations at the secretariat vowed to continue their movement until the law is withdrawn.
The civil administration protests came amidst a reported tiff between Bangladesh's military and the interim government over national security and election issues.
However, in a media briefing on Monday, the army said it was working in unison with the interim administration.
'(But) there will be no compromise when it comes to the country's independence, security, and sovereignty,' military operations director Brigadier General M Nazim-ud-Daula told the presser at Dhaka Cantonment.
Last week, Army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman, along with the chiefs of the navy and air force, met Yunus and reiterated their call for an election by December to allow an elected government to take charge.
They also conveyed their reservation about a proposed humanitarian corridor or channel to Myanmar's rebel-held Rakhine province.
Meanwhile, local media reported that there has been a deteriorating law and order situation in Dhaka in the past few weeks.
'A series of killings and muggings in the capital over the past few weeks has raised fresh concerns over Dhaka's law and order situation', The Daily Star newspaper reported on Tuesday.
The report said the latest in the string of violent crimes took place on Sunday night, when two masked assailants shot dead a local Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Kamrul Ahsan Shadhon.
According to police headquarters data, violent crime has seen a significant surge in Dhaka between January and April compared to the same period last year.
Between January and April this year, 175 robbery cases were recorded — almost double from last year's 94. Dacoity cases jumped over threefold from seven to 24 in the same period this year compared to last year.
'Most alarmingly, murder cases nearly tripled — from 47 last year to 136 this year,' the newspaper noted.
Bangladeshi economic and political think tank Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) on Tuesday said the prevailing situation, particularly in the economic sector, in Bangladesh, needs an elected government to take over.
'It is time for the interim government to announce a specific date for when the upcoming national parliamentary election will be held,' CPD Executive Director Fahmida Khatun told a press conference on Tuesday.
'The interim government has already been in office for nine months. Now, it would be reasonable to give a specific date for the election,' she said. PTI AR SCY SCY
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.