It is up to the government to decide how long the army will remain deployed on the ground to assist the civil administration, said Col. Intekhab Haider Khan, staff colonel of the Directorate of Military Operations at the Army Headquarters. army.

He made the remarks during a press conference at the Dhaka cantonment regarding the activities of the army deployed “to help the civil power”. Responding to a question, he said it was incorrect to say that the army had been deployed to help the administration for 60 years. days.

The army was deployed based on the government’s decision, and it is the government that will determine the duration of the deployment, he added.

He added that the army is fully aware of the importance of preventing human rights violations and extrajudicial killings.

“Our highest leaders have given clear instructions that we must not allow any extrajudicial killings, whatever the circumstances. We will do everything possible to prevent such incidents,” he added.

Colonel Haider also mentioned that they are doing everything possible to ensure that such human rights violations do not happen.

Even if the incidents people hear about have been revealed, many situations in which such violations were prevented through the military’s action are not always visible to the public, he said.

He added that in the industrial sector alone there were more than 600 cases of labor unrest, many of which were violent, particularly at the start.

In addition to the army, other law enforcement agencies were involved and, if they had not intervened in time to calm the workers, the situation could have escalated into much more serious incidents.

Replying to another question, Colonel Haider said that in some situations they have to take necessary action, but there was no incident where the army targeted or beat anyone.

Regarding the law and order situation, he said they were continuously monitoring the situation.

Colonel Haider said that they had conducted a comparative analysis using crime data available with the police and according to the analysis, after the deployment of the army or the vesting of judiciary power, the number crimes has decreased compared to before.

According to recorded data, criminal incidents have decreased, he said.

“This means that the situation has not deteriorated. However, some might say that the situation has not improved as expected,” he added, hoping that it will improve further in the future. .

On September 17, the government granted judicial power to army officers for 60 days to improve law and order.