Since the dramatic fall of the government in August 2024, Bangladesh has been a nation teetering on the edge — and, curiously, it is not the civilian politicians, not the judiciary, not the press, but the once-untouchable Bangladesh Army that is being dragged through the dirt, publicly flogged, and humiliated under the grand and shadowy project code-named “Nexus.” Nexus Defence and Justice…..
The irony could not have been richer.
For decades, the Army stood as the self-proclaimed saviour of sovereignty — the guardian of independence, the embodiment of national resilience. Yet history, as it often does, peels back the glamour to reveal a starker, more grotesque truth: a relic institution born from the loins of Pakistani indoctrination, riddled with personal greed, ideological confusion, and a deep-seated loathing for genuine civilian supremacy.
Now, for the first time, the Army’s dirty laundry is not just being aired in whispers but shouted across the streets, amplified by self-styled reformists, opportunistic university teachers, corrupt former corporate executives-turned-media tycoons, and embittered ex-officers spewing “revelations.”
What are we witnessing? A reckless and nihilistic attempt to burn down the edifice that, for better or worse, has been a keystone of Bangladesh’s fragile stability.
The Pakistani Ghost in the Room
One must begin with a cold, uncomfortable truth: the Bangladesh Army, as founded post-1971, was neither ideologically purified nor emotionally decolonised.
The very first generation of senior officers was men trained by Pakistan, many brainwashed with the poisonous cocktail of contempt for democratic governance, disdain for India, and a belief in military superiority over civilian rule. They wore the new flag on their shoulders but carried the old doctrines in their hearts.
These were not liberators in the truest sense; many of them were “waiters-in-waiting”, lurking in the wings for an opportunity to seize power — and seize they did, repeatedly.
The coups, counter-coups, assassinations, and the long midnight of military rule between 1975 and 1990, and again the backroom dominance from 2001 to 2008, were a natural consequence. During these periods, a culture of unaccountability, entitlement, and systematic corruption took deep root. Every retiring general, every brigadier, every colonel — they had their slice of the national cake, courtesy of the people’s taxes.
The gravy train had no brakes.
Yet, paradoxically, public perception still hailed them as the ultimate guarantors of stability. The myth of the ‘clean, noble, soldier’ endured, despite the bullet-ridden history books and a mountain of evidence to the contrary.
The New Blood: Same Venom?
Fast forward to 2024: Today’s army is, on paper, made up of purely Bangladeshi commissioned officers and soldiers. One might naively expect that the old Pakistani virus would have been eradicated by now.
But is that the case?
Hardly.
Infiltration by Pakistan’s ideological remnants continues. Anti-India sentiment — a direct inheritance from Pakistani military culture — is not just alive but flourishing in mess halls, in war colleges, and in the secret chat rooms where colonels and majors grumble about “foreign influence” and “sovereignty threats.”
It is painfully clear: a deeply embedded section of the Army remains wedded to an anti-neighbour, anti-liberation, and anti-civilian supremacy doctrine.
Their methods? Sophisticated disinformation campaigns, clandestine alignments with radical Islamist groups, and now, shockingly, alliance with a band of pseudo-intellectuals and fallen elites under the nebulous Nexus movement.
The Nexus Project: Revolution or Anarchy?
The so-called “Nexus” — an unelected, unaccountable, and shady group of actors — claims it seeks to reform the Army by “exposing” its past sins.
But let us be brutally honest: this is no reformation project.
It is a systematic demolition campaign, weaponizing half-truths, selective leaks, and theatrical exposés to undermine the Army’s institutional credibility, sow mutiny among ranks, and ultimately dismantle one of the few national structures that, until now, commanded unquestioned respect.
Who are these Nexus Defence and Justice warriors?
-
A university lecturer whose only claim to fame is empty theorising about “nuclear deterrence,” while lacking basic sense about the dynamics of national security.
-
A corrupt private company executive turned media baron, obsessed with making himself relevant by pandering to populist rage.
-
Disgruntled ex-officers, radicalised by their own failed ambitions and ideological bankruptcy.
-
Fringe Islamist agitators masquerading as reformers.
Together, they are ripping open Pandora’s box, vomiting out every classified operation, every internal memo, every tactical doctrine, every ambition — naively believing that “transparency” will lead to “accountability,” when in fact it is inviting chaos.
In their frenzy, they are ignoring the one iron law of geopolitics: When you destroy an institution without building a replacement, you invite anarchy.
Euphoria and the Madness of the Crowds
The Bangladeshi public, weary from decades of political betrayal, economic inequality, and elite corruption, is vulnerable to these orchestrated exposés.
Euphoria abounds.
“Finally, the truth is coming out!” they cheer.
“We will have a people’s army now!” they scream.
Poor fools.
What they fail to realise is that in their cathartic rush to “cleanse” the Army, they are smashing one of the last structural pillars holding the country together. An Army — however imperfect — that at least deterred external threats, held the line during national disasters, and provided a semblance of order in times of political vacuum.
When you destroy the Army’s authority in the eyes of its officers and soldiers, when you render it leaderless and visionless, when you unleash the devouring wolves of factionalism, you don’t get democracy.
You get Somalia.
The Deep State: Old Habits Die Hard
Of course, no analysis would be complete without addressing the Army’s deep state apparatus.
From ADCS (aides-de-camp) infiltrating political offices, to military secretariats spying on politicians, to special security forces controlling access to leaders, the Army has, for decades, played a sinister, subterranean game.
Foreign policy, media narratives, electoral engineering — all bore the fingerprints of a military bureaucracy that refused to stay confined within barracks.
Yet, despite this long history of manipulation, it is dangerous — even suicidal — to burn down the entire house merely because its inhabitants are flawed.
Reform must be gradual, cautious, and strategic. What Nexus Defence and Justice, and its deluded followers, are doing is equivalent to pouring gasoline on a house infested with termites and lighting a match.
Conclusion: Bangladesh at the Precipice
As things stand today, Bangladesh risks tipping over the edge.
The public is euphoric but blind. The so-called reformists are nihilistic and reckless. The Army is confused, demoralised, and vulnerable. Opportunistic foreign actors — Pakistan, radical Islamist proxies, and even rogue international NGOS — are salivating at the prospect of a fractured Bangladesh.
If the current trajectory continues, Bangladesh could face an internal implosion of the kind it has never experienced since 1971.
It will not be a glorious people’s revolution. It will be an ungovernable, factionalised, weak state, ripe for exploitation by both regional enemies and global vultures.
The Army must, somehow, pull itself together.
Not by doubling down on secrecy. Not by clamping down on free speech.
But by honest, internal, strategic cleansing — without letting wolves in sheep’s clothing tear it to pieces.
Nexus may believe it is fighting for justice.
But in truth, they are dragging the nation toward suicide.
And history, cold and unmerciful as it is, will record that when Bangladesh needed wisdom, it got madness; when it needed caution, it got blind rage.
We are living through the opening chapters of what may soon be Bangladesh’s darkest tragedy.
