Bangladesh’s President Mohammed Shahabuddin signs as he administers the oath‑taking ceremony for Tarique Rahman as Prime Minister at the South Plaza of the parliament building, following the BNP’s landslide victory in the national polls, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, February 17, 2026.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
Asserting its control over the state machinery, the new government of Bangladesh, led by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, carried out changes in the armed forces as well as the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT).
The changes that were announced on Sunday (February 22) – Monday (February 23) are being viewed as part of sweeping military and bureaucratic changes that are being planned as PM Tarique Rahman’s government stabilises.
These changes have taken place almost simultaneously with the announcement that the new government will examine all the legal cases that have been filed against journalists and business persons after the uprising of August 5, 2024.
In an order issued by the Army Headquarters, the serving Principal Staff Officer (PSO) of the Armed Forces, Lt. General S.M. Kamrul Hasan, has been sent on deputation to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he is expected to be appointed as an ambassador at a mission of Bangladesh abroad.
Maj. Gen Mir Mushfiqur Rahman took charge as the new Principal Staff Officer (PSO) in a ceremony on Monday (February 23) when he was handed over the responsibility jointly by Prime Minister Rahman and Army Chief General Waker uz Zaman.
That apart, Brig. General Mohammed Hafizur Rahman, who is the current Defence Attache at the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi, has been promoted to the rank of Major General and has been transferred back to Dhaka. Lt. General S.M.Kamrul Hasan led a six-member military delegation to Pakistan in January 2025 that was widely interpreted as the “strategic rehabilitation” of the Pakistani military in the twenty-first-century Bangladesh.
The Daily Star has reported that Lt Gen Mainur Rahman, general officer commanding (GOC) of the Army Training and Doctrine Command (ARTDOC), has been made the Army’s CGS (Chief of General Staff).
The Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs appointed Mohammed Aminul Islam as the Chief Prosecutor of the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), ending the tenure of Tajul Islam, who served as the Chief Prosecutor when the ICT delivered a death sentence to deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal on November 17, 2025.
Tajul Islam, who was appointed Chief Prosecutor of the ICT on September 7, 2024, gained prominence from 2011 to 2016 when he served as defence lawyer for several leading figures of the Jamaat-e-Islami who received life and death sentences for crimes committed during the crackdown on civilians by the Pakistan military in 1971.
The changes in the armed forces and the ICT have coincided with the announcement by Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed, who instructed police to review cases that were filed after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government.
Mr. Ahmed told the media that there were doubts about the cases and that it was felt that many of the cases were filed by “opportunistic individuals” who wanted to settle scores with people belonging to the media and business communities. The orders were issued after Mr. Ahmed held a marathon meeting with the law enforcement officials.
He further announced that the BDR mutiny case of 2009 will also be reinvestigated. On February 25-26 in 2009, a group of officers and soldiers rebelled at the BDR headquarters in Pilkhana, headquarters in Dhaka. The mutineers killed 74 persons, including the then DG of BDR, his wife and 57 other officers.
Mr. Ahmed announced that a new committee will be constituted to look into the case.
Published – February 24, 2026 01:20 am IST
