Bangladesh govt employees vow to continue their protest against new service law

The Print

26-05-2025

According to media reports, employees of various ministries and offices continued their sit-in and protest marches under a banner called Bangladesh Secretariat Officers and Employees Coordination Council inside the compound, protesting the promulgation and enforcement of the Public Service (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025.
The protest at the secretariat, which houses ministries and important government offices, virtually paralysed the central administration for the third consecutive day on Monday.
Dhaka/New Delhi, May 26 (PTI) Hundreds of government employees in Bangladesh on Monday vowed to continue their protest at the secretariat and urged their colleagues to stage nationwide demonstrations against a new service law which allows easier dismissal of officials for misconduct.
They urged officials and employees across the country to hold demonstrations on Tuesday against the 'repressive' and 'black law'.
Hasnat Abdullah, a prominent leader of the student-led National Citizen Party (NCP) formed with Muhammad Yunus' blessings in February, warned the government employees against the protests, saying, 'We will firmly resist it with the people's support'.
Abdullah, a key leader of the Students Against Discrimination movement that ousted then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League regime last year, apparently referred protesters as collaborators of the deposed premier.
'Today, there are protests at the secretariat. NBR's (National Board of Revenue) reform processes are also being obstructed. Yet during the July mass uprising, these same people wore black badges and worked in offices supporting Sheikh Hasina,' he said.
On Monday, hundreds of government employees briefly locked the secretariat's main gate.
The agitating employees gathered near the main entrance around 12:30 pm. During that time, the gate was closed. It was reopened about half an hour later, around 1:00 pm. The protesting employees moved from the gate and gathered in a scattered way across the secretariat premises.
The authorities deployed extra police to enforce a vigil against any possible violence at the complex.
Also, the protest by employees of the Dhaka South City Corporation, demanding the installation of BNP leader Ishraque Hossain as its mayor in line with a court order, has paralysed administrative services.
The election commission preferred not to oppose the verdict, but the interim government on Monday challenged the ruling in the High Court to debar Hossain's swearing-in and allow an administrator appointed by the government to discharge the mayor's duties.
Meanwhile, the army on Monday came up with a clarification amid reports of discord between the civil and military leadership over the possible timeline for holding the elections and other policy issues related to security affairs, particularly involving a proposed humanitarian corridor to Myanmar's rebel-held Rakhine state.
Bangladesh Army's operations director Brigadier General M Nazim-ud-Daula said the military was not at odds with the interim government but was determined to play its role in safeguarding the country's independence and sovereignty.
'We (the government and army) are working to help each other. There is no scope to misinterpret it,' he told reporters.
He, however, added that there would be 'no compromise when it comes to the country's independence, security and sovereignty'.
Daula added: 'The issue involving the corridor is highly sensitive. For the army, national interest comes first'.
Army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman along with the Navy and Air Force chiefs met Yunus last week and reportedly reiterated their call for election by December this year to allow an elected government to take charge. They also conveyed their reservation about the corridor issue.
The next day, Gen Zaman held a senior officers meeting at Dhaka Cantonment and said he was unaware of the government's several strategic decisions despite the military's active role.
The military also decided to be tough against rampant incidents of 'mob justice'.
'Bangladesh needs political stability. This is only possible through an elected government, not by unelected decision-makers,' the Daily Star newspaper quoted Zaman as saying during an 'officers' address' in which he delivered a 30-minute speech, followed by more than an hour of questions and answers.
According to reports, the army chief also voiced concern about making other decisions without an electoral mandate – including the potential foreign management of Chattogram Port, Bangladesh's main seaport, and the launch of Starlink, Elon Musk's satellite internet service – which he said could compromise national security.
A sense of unease has intensified in Bangladesh for the past few days amid protests in the civil administration and business sector over the policies of the Yunus-led interim government.
The apex Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries and other business chambers Sunday convened a press conference to review the worrisome situation in the business arena.
A prominent business community leader Showkat Aziz Russell told the presser that businessmen were being killed just like the intellectuals in the 1971 Liberation War. He warned of famine-like situation as more people become jobless.
'We don't know how we will pay bonuses and salaries to workers ahead of Eid-ul-Adha,' said Russell, the president of Bangladesh Textiles Mills Association (BTMA). PTI AR ZH ZH
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.