Open Letter to Former Army Chief Sparks Outcry Over Military’s Image

Melbourne, February 10: Iqbal Karim Bhuiyan served as the Chief of Army Staff during the tenure of Sheikh Hasina’s government. After completing his full term, he also received various state privileges from the government. However, a few days before 5 August 2024, he suddenly began to take a stance against Sheikh Hasina’s government, and allegations emerged that he incited discontent among certain members within the army.

Since the fall of the government, he has been continuously launching harsh criticism against Sheikh Hasina, her government, and several specific army officers across social media and various media outlets.

As part of this ongoing narrative, he recently appeared as a witness in a case related to enforced disappearances at the controversial International Crimes Tribunal, where he made one-sided statements and raised multiple serious allegations regarding the roles of the army, RAB, and DGFI during the Awami League government.

His statements have already sparked widespread controversy. Many have questioned why he remained silent on these issues while he was in power or even after his retirement. Why is he suddenly raising these allegations now, and in whose interest? These questions have led some to label Iqbal Karim Bhuiyan as an opportunist, and even as hypocritical and power-hungry.

A senior army officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, began his writing as follows—

Regarding the former Army Chief’s remarks and my decision to surrender my commission:
An open letter

Respected Sir Iqbal Karim,

Please accept my respectful greetings.

Forgive me—my pen kept faltering as I wrote this letter. I never saw you as an ordinary person. To me, you were an institution, a belief, an ideal. Yet today, with a heart full of emotion, I am compelled to begin with an unpleasant question: why did it take you 15 years to reveal these so-called “truths” that you shared today with Chief Prosecutor Tajul Sir?

Let me clarify at the outset that I did not serve in RAB. Alhamdulillah, that misfortune did not befall me. You retired in 2015. Even before that, during your tenure, allegations of injustice, corruption, enforced disappearances, and killings were raised in the country. Knowing all this, why were you silent then? Why did you not stand before the nation and speak the truth at that time? During the Awami League government, we never heard these statements from you on social media or any other platform. Was holding on to the post of Army Chief more important to you than protecting the entire army? Or were you seeking to please Sheikh Hasina’s government in hopes of becoming Joint Chief of Staff? We often heard such rumours in the past.

Sir, I myself am a direct witness.

I was on the ground during the 2014 election. At that time, a rumour spread among us that if the army were visibly present at polling centres, it would be difficult to rig the vote. Then, indeed, we received orders that the army should remain inside the cantonment starting 72 hours before the election. We were given these instructions three days before the vote. Sir, before your very eyes, one of the most brutal electoral robberies in history took place. We did not hear your voice that day.

Where was your courage then, Sir? If, while serving as Army Chief, you had exposed the catalogue of corruption before the nation and stepped down taking responsibility for failing to take effective action against it, today you would undoubtedly have been a legend to the nation. Not only respect, the nation would have stood by you with its chest held high.

Sir, by making these statements a decade after your retirement and after the fall of the government, you have created space for yourself to be placed among opportunists. It pains my heart to say this, Sir, because I respected you deeply. Another pain grips me—there is a tone in your statements as if you alone were the only honest, professional, and exceptional Army Chief since independence, while everyone else is questionable. So were all others except you truly corrupt, Sir?

Over the past 17 years, 3,000–4,000 officers have served in RAB, DGFI, and NSI. Several hundred are still serving. Are they all killers? Enforced disappearers?

These questions do not let me sleep at night, Sir. I have served in the army with integrity for nearly two decades. Thousands of officers like me continue to serve today. As we walked the path of the army, we did not see this picture of widespread corruption. But after your statements, we can no longer stand with our heads held high before our families, in society, or even before the world.

When you name a few specific generals and cast a shadow over the entire force, the pride, dreams, and self-respect of nearly two hundred thousand members of the armed forces are wounded. Have you ever questioned your own conscience, Sir?

You said that officers who refused to take part in enforced disappearances or killings in RAB sought refuge in cantonments, and that you sheltered two of them. Sir, I served in an intelligence agency. I know those two officers. When investigations into corruption began, they sought refuge with you by telling fabricated stories.

Typically, 70–80 officers serve in RAB at the same time. So were the remaining 78 officers all criminals? Even today, thousands of members of the army once served in RAB. According to your statements, do they all carry stigma? Then should everyone be removed to “cleanse” the army?

Sir, after your statements, we feel ashamed. You did not step down taking responsibility for failure while you were Army Chief. I do not know whether you feel ashamed today for that silence.

But we cannot bear the burden of presenting the entire army as a corrupt institution. I believe that 98 percent of army officers and soldiers are honest and professional. But when a former Army Chief casts doubt on the entire force, it does not take long for the nation’s love to turn into resentment.

Unable to bear this burden of humiliation, I have taken a difficult decision: if you do not acknowledge that your statements were exaggerated and do not issue a new and responsible statement, I will surrender my commission in the coming days. I know that I am not alone.

Many other officers are standing at the threshold of this decision. Sir, while tarnishing the 54-year glorious history of the army in such a sweeping manner, did your conscience not tremble even for a moment? You may wish to be a legend—you truly are a legend. But if, in the pursuit of remaining at the centre of attention, carried away by the dopamine of social media, you humiliate your own force before the nation, history will not forgive you. Nor will the two hundred thousand service members who see this force as a symbol of pride and honour.

I do not want this shame to return to you. Because once I respected you with my life. Even today, I am holding on to the last fragment of that respect.

Assalamu Alaikum, Sir.
I conclude this letter with an apology.

Sincerely,
An Army Officer