'Sending Wrong Message': Key Face Of 2024 Bangladesh Protest Questions Army

Sarjis Alam, one of the main faces of the student protests in Bangladesh last August and a leader of the National Citizen Party (NCP), has directed questions towards the country's Army. Army personnel had summoned and questioned some student leaders of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Students Against Discrimination (SAD) in connection with vandalism at the residence of politician and Jatiyo Party Chairman GM Quader in Rangpur.

Now, Mr Alam has asked the Army how many operations have been carried out in the last nine months to arrest the goons and killers of the Bangladesh Awami League, after an officer's warning that no one would be allowed to set fire or destroy homes.

Brigadier General Humayun Kaiyum, commander of the Bangladesh Army's 72nd Infantry Brigade said, "For now, our position is clear - those who disrupt public life, engage in vandalism, set fires in the name of a mob, or destroy homes must get the message: they will not be allowed such opportunities anymore."

"If it's for the sake of investigation, anyone, from Students Against Discrimination, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Jamaat, or National Citizen Party, can be questioned. But we believe doing it at 1:00 am or 2 am sends the wrong message," said Sarjis Alam.

Mr Alam is a close aide of the chief adviser of the interim government of Bangladesh, Muhammad Yunus, and was one of the leaders who met him when he was considering resignation before his Tokyo trip. The Army and Muhammad Yunus have been at loggerheads over holding elections by December, as the latter wants time till June.

Mr Quader's residence in Rangpur's Senpara area was attacked on Thursday evening. The Jatiyo Party chief was at home during the incident. The Jatiyo Party remains critical of Muhammad Yunus and wants elections to be held sooner.

"Unless the election is declared, no new investors are coming. As far as the old investors are concerned, I mean the investors who have already invested in Bangladesh a huge amount of money, feel insecure," Bangladesh's Jatiya Party leader Masroor Mawla told news agency ANI.