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No change has been made to the post of Army Chief Waker-uz-Zaman

Recently, a photocard titled ‘Bangladesh’s New PM Takes Major Action, Replaces Army Chief’ has been circulated from multiple Pakistan-based accounts on various internet platforms, and these posts have been shared by some accounts in Bangladesh.

See the posts circulated on Facebook with this claim here (Archive), here (Archive), and here (Archive).

See the post circulated on Instagram with this claim here (Archive).

Fact Check

The Rumor Scanner team’s investigation reveals that the information circulated claiming that General Waker-uz-Zaman has been removed from the post of Army Chief by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman is not correct. In reality, the discussed claim has been circulated without any evidence.

Observing the posts circulated with the said claim, no information source was found to support the claim.

If there were any change in one of the most important positions in the defense sector, like the Chief of the Bangladesh Army, it would have been discussed and news would have been broadcast with importance in the media. However, no news or information supporting the discussed claim was found in the media or any relevant reliable source.

Furthermore, no news or information supporting the discussed claim was found on the official Facebook page of the Bangladesh Army or the Facebook page of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

Investigating the discussed claim, it is known from reports published in multiple media outlets (1, 2, 3) that a reshuffle has been made in several important top-level positions of the Bangladesh Army. According to Ministry of Defense sources, an order regarding this was issued from the Army Headquarters on February 22.

Lieutenant General Mainur Rahman, General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Army Training and Doctrine Command (ARTDOC), has been made the Chief of General Staff (CGS) of the army. The previous CGS, Lieutenant General Mizanur Rahman Shamim, has recently retired.

Major General Mir Mushfiqur Rahman, GOC of the 24th Infantry Division in Chattogram, has been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General and appointed as the PSO in the Armed Forces Division. The current PSO, Lieutenant General SM Kamrul Hassan, has been transferred to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for his next posting as an ambassador.

Brigadier General Mohammad Kaiser Rashid Chowdhury has been appointed as the new Director General of DGFI. He has been promoted to the rank of Major General and transferred from the Army Headquarters to the DGFI Headquarters. The current Director General of DGFI, Major General Mohammad Jahangir Alam, has been transferred to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Brigadier General Md Hafizur Rahman, who is currently serving as the Defense Adviser at the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi, has been promoted to the rank of Major General and appointed GOC of the 55th Infantry Division in Jashore. And, Major General JM Emdadul Islam, who was leading the 55th Infantry Division, has been transferred as the Commandant of the East Bengal Regimental Centre. The current Commandant, Major General Ferdous Hasan, has been appointed as the GOC of the 24th Infantry Division.

No information of any change to the post of the Chief of the Bangladesh Army, Chief of Army Staff, General Waker-uz-Zaman was found in these aforementioned reports.

Subsequently, it is known from reports published in multiple media outlets (1, 2) that several more important top-level positions of the Bangladesh Army were reshuffled. According to Ministry of Defense sources, an order regarding this was issued from the Army Headquarters on February 27.

At this stage, changes have been made to the responsibilities of the Quartermaster General (QMG), Adjutant General (AG), National Defence College (NDC), Military Institute of Science and Technology (MIST), and General Officer Commanding (GOC) of Logistics (Log) Area of the Army Headquarters. However, no information of any change to the post of the Chief of the Bangladesh Army, Chief of Army Staff, General Waker-uz-Zaman was found in these reports.

That is, although several important top-level positions of the Bangladesh Army have been reshuffled in two phases recently, no information of any change to the post of the Chief of the Bangladesh Army, Chief of Army Staff, General Waker-uz-Zaman was found.

Therefore, the information circulated claiming that Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has made a change to the post of Bangladesh Army Chief General Waker-uz-Zaman is false.

Sources

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