Delhi-Trained Bureaucrats Under Surveillance

Panchayat Habib

The administration has become more active following death-row convict former PM Sheikh Hasina’s threat to return to Bangladesh in December while staying in India. Surveillance has been increased amid concerns that some officials could misuse their positions to create disorder. In particular, suspicion is focused on bureaucrats who received training in Delhi during the previous “fascist regime.”

During the fascist rule, the entire administration was politicised. From secretaries to officials at the upazila level, many were desperate to prove themselves as “Mujib soldiers.” During that period, Delhi played an important role in major administrative decisions, including key appointments and promotions.

At one point, a decision was taken to provide training in India to 10,000 Bangladeshi officials so that Delhi could shape the country’s bureaucrats according to its own preferences. As a result, a perception developed among officials that receiving training in India would earn them the label of being “hardline Awami League supporters.” This would make it easier for them to receive promotions and various other benefits.

It is also alleged that officials who received training in Delhi were promoted rapidly. Officials considered politically neutral or sympathetic to the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami were allegedly deprived of opportunities in various ways, while India-friendly officials were given greater importance.

However, the situation changed after the regime change following the July uprising. The interim government and the elected BNP government removed some identified bureaucrats from various positions. However, a large number of Awami League-aligned officials still remain in important posts.

Questions and suspicions have now emerged over whether some of these officials could carry out sabotage following reports of Ms. Hasina’s return in December. As a result, strict surveillance is reportedly being maintained over bureaucrats who received training in Delhi.

A responsible official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that 2,600 officials working in various important positions had received training in Delhi. A government source said intelligence agencies were monitoring the activities and movements of those among them who are still in service.

On the matter, former secretary and public administration expert Abu Alam Shahid Khan told Inqilab, “No particular country can be a condition for higher training and promotion for government officers and employees. If there is any written or unwritten order of this kind, it is necessary to cancel it. I think the government can look into the matter.”

It has been learnt that at one time, officials working in Bangladesh’s administration could not be promoted or appointed to major administrative positions without receiving training in India. Such matters were given greater importance during the government of “fascist” Sheikh Hasina.

For this reason, since 2014, around 2,600 government officials from the administration cadre—including additional divisional commissioners, additional deputy commissioners, upazila nirbahi officers, deputy directors of local government, senior assistant secretaries, senior assistant commissioners, assistant commissioners (land), and officials of equivalent rank in ministries—were sent to India for training and subsequently posted to various ministries.

In addition, during former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to India in April 2017, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Bangladesh Supreme Court and India’s National Judicial Academy to provide training and strengthen the capacity of judicial officers of Bangladesh. Under the agreement, some judicial officers received training in India.

However, in 2025, 50 judges did not go to India for training. The interim government later cancelled their training orders. Later, at the fifth meeting of the India-Bangladesh Joint Consultative Commission (JCC) in 2019, the two countries reached an agreement under which India trained 1,800 Bangladeshi government officials over six years.

Currently, government officials trained in India are serving in important positions in Bangladesh’s administration. Some are secretaries, some additional secretaries and joint secretaries, some deputy secretaries, and others are serving as deputy commissioners.

After the change of power in August 2024, “fascist” Sheikh Hasina fled to India and took shelter there. The interim government of Bangladesh subsequently expressed strong dissatisfaction over her political statements and activities from India. Since then, diplomatic tensions between Bangladesh and India have continued.

It is alleged that, after the current BNP government came to power, India- and Ms. Hasina-aligned elements within Bangladesh’s administration have entered the government and have been carrying out various conspiracies to obstruct development projects, including gas and power projects.

Overall, the government is maintaining strict surveillance over former secretaries, former additional secretaries, joint secretaries and former deputy commissioners who served under the “fascist government” and are allegedly involved in covert activities, both inside and outside the administration.

According to the report, India wanted Bangladeshi government officials trained in India to remain unable to work for countries other than India. However, many officials in Bangladesh’s administration could not accept this alleged strategy. As a result, many officials had reportedly been suffering from frustration and disappointment for a long time.

At the same time, it is alleged that conspiracies were being carried out to harass and obstruct the promotion and appointment of competent and talented officials in the administration.
Many Bangladeshi government officials have also received training in various subjects in China, Japan, Russia, the United States, Canada and Australia, among other countries, and many are interested in receiving further training abroad.

The report further alleges that even today, officials considered pro-India harass Bangladeshi government officials and ordinary citizens travelling to Pakistan at airports. It also claims that there are objections to allowing unrestricted entry into Bangladesh as an independent and sovereign country. Because of these objections, agreements with many countries have not been signed.

Intelligence agencies have reportedly finalised a list of India-friendly and “fascist Awami League collaborators” who are still serving in various ministries and departments of the administration. Another organisation of retired officials, the Policy Management Research Society (PMRS), has reportedly actively assisted in the process.

Jamaat-e-Islami, the National Citizens Party (NCP) and Islami Andolan Bangladesh have called on the people to remain united against what they describe as Indian hegemonic forces. They have said the people of Bangladesh will resist any conspiracy from India. Meanwhile, since the election last February, Delhi has been giving importance to improving relations with Dhaka. By sending Dinesh Trivedi, an Indian high commissioner with extensive political experience, to Dhaka, Narendra Modi is reportedly sending a significant message about bilateral relations.

India is placing importance on improving relations across a broad range of areas, including with officials of Bangladesh’s administration and political circles. Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Dinesh Trivedi has already met Md Ismail Zabiullah, the Prime Minister’s Adviser for Public Administration and a member of the BNP Standing Committee. During the meeting, he requested that Bangladeshi officials be sent to India for training.

At the meeting, Adviser Md Ismail Zabiullah said, “Bangladesh and India are friendly neighbouring countries. Bangladesh shares a long border with India. Bringing border killings between the two countries down to zero is important for understanding between the peoples of the two countries.” He also called for reducing the trade deficit between the two countries and ensuring Bangladesh’s fair share of the Ganges water. He also stressed the need to strengthen people-to-people relations without maintaining ties with any particular political party.

The National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG) was established in 2014 as a premier institution under the sponsorship of India’s Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. It has been tasked with working on public policy, governance, reforms, training and capacity building for government officials in India as well as other developing countries. It also functions as a think tank of the Indian government.

Many officials who were denied promotions during the “fascist Awami” rule have still not received the promotions they were entitled to. India had been providing training to Bangladeshi government officials on administrative policies and other areas of government policy related to governance. The report claims that this has allowed India-friendly officials in the administration to become more influential.

Some India-friendly and Ms. Hasina-aligned government officials were allegedly involved in the Ansar rebellion in front of the Secretariat.
During the former 1/11 government, India-friendly and Ms. Hasina-aligned officials in the administration allegedly took to the streets in movements against the BNP. Many of them also performed duties during the 2014 and 2018 elections and were later promoted.

The report further alleges that some officials carried out various conspiracies even during the tenure of the interim government.
According to the report, India- and Ms. Hasina-aligned elements in Bangladesh’s administration have entered the current government and continued various conspiracies.

India allegedly wanted Bangladeshi government officials who received training there to be unable to work for countries other than India. However, many officials in Bangladesh’s administration did not accept this alleged policy. As a result, officials had reportedly suffered frustration and disappointment for a long period.

At the same time, the report alleges that conspiracies were being carried out to harass competent and talented officials over their promotions and postings. At the fifth meeting of the India-Bangladesh Joint Consultative Commission (JCC) in 2019, an agreement was signed between the two countries on the issue.

India trained 1,800 Bangladeshi government officials over six years. They received training at the National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG) under India’s Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG). At the time, former Bangladesh Foreign Minister A K Abdul Momen and former Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj signed the agreement.

Under the agreement, Bangladeshi government officials received training on e-governance, service delivery, public policy and implementation, information technology, decentralisation, urban development and planning, challenges in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and administrative policy and strategies.

The first MoU was signed five years earlier, under which 1,500 government officials received training. Additional deputy commissioners/additional district magistrates, upazila nirbahi officers, deputy directors of local government, senior assistant secretaries, senior assistant commissioners, assistant commissioners (land), and administration cadre officials of equivalent rank in ministries were selected for the training.

Bangladeshi government officials completed the 60th batch of the flagship Capacity Building Programme (CBP) organised by India’s National Centre for Good Governance. The course was completed at the NCGG campus in Mussoorie.
So far, NCGG has provided training to 2,145 Bangladeshi officials. By 2025, another MoU had been signed with the Bangladesh government to enhance the skills and capacity of 1,800 more officials. As part of this programme, 517 Bangladeshi officials received training at NCGG.

For the first time, judicial officers from Bangladesh travelled to India for training from October 10 to 24 that year. Later, in 2025, 50 judicial officers from subordinate courts did not travel to India for training. The Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs cancelled the relevant notification. Earlier, a report on January 4 had said that, following the advice of the Supreme Court, the Ministry of Law had allowed 50 judicial officers to travel to India for training.

Assistant judges, senior assistant judges, joint district and sessions judges, additional district and sessions judges, district and sessions judges and officials of equivalent rank were nominated for the training. These judicial officers were scheduled to attend the training from February 10 to 20 of the previous year. According to a notification signed by Abul Hasanat, deputy secretary (Training) of the Law and Justice Division of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, the Indian government was supposed to bear all expenses related to the training.

The notification stated that there would be no financial involvement of the Bangladesh government. Meanwhile, speaking in Parliament last Thursday while criticising the foreign policy of the previous government, Opposition Leader and Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Shafiqur Rahman said, “The days of following the instructions of another country are over.”

He said, “There will be discussion here, there will be a fight on an equal footing. We will no longer accept anyone’s subordination. Bangladesh will no longer conduct its foreign policy under anyone’s control. That chapter is closed; it will not be reopened. We do not want to see the body of any Bangladeshi citizen hanging from barbed wire like Mr. Felani again.”

Referring to the expiration of the Ganges water-sharing agreement and its renewal, he urged the government to take a strong position from now on. He also called for effective initiatives to resolve the long-standing Teesta water-sharing crisis in northern Bangladesh. He said people involved in crimes in the past had fled the country and taken shelter abroad, particularly in a neighbouring country, from where they were spreading propaganda and plotting to destabilise the country.

According to him, these individuals are repeatedly creating fear and spreading propaganda by saying they are “coming, coming,” thereby creating confusion in the social and political environment. Administration experts believe it is necessary for the government to identify and prepare a list of India-friendly and Hasina-aligned elements who are still present in every ministry, division, directorate and agency, including the Prime Minister’s Office, President’s Office, Ministry of Public Administration, Cabinet Division, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Information and Ministry of Public Works.