(১৮৯৩) LTG (R) Nooruddin Khan, the chief of army staff in 1990, commented to US Embassy

"I Made a Terrible Mistake", says Nooruddin Khan

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DHAKA: LTG (R) Nooruddin Khan, the chief of army staff in 1990, commented to US Embassy that if he had known what the "two ladies" would do to democracy, he would have assumed power for one year.

The information was disclosed from a telemessage from the US Embassy in Dhaka to Washington on May 31, 2006. Wikileaks leaked the massage about the matters related to the transition from general Ershad`s nine years of military and quasi-military rule through a pro-democracy uprising.
 
 Nur Uddin said he convened a constituent assembly to devise a "real democracy" to prevent BNP`s Khaleda Zia and AL`s Sheikh Hasina from degrading democratic institutions and concepts with their "lust for power and money."

Khan now says he made a "terrible mistake."

Asked if he might write an op-ed as a respected figure lamenting the state of democracy in Bangladesh 16 years after his historic act, Khan shook his head, "That would be too dangerous for me."  Many civil-society leaders echo the view that the "two ladies" have betrayed democracy, says the leaked US diplomatic cable.

He said the international community would just send the right signal, he whispered, the BNP and AL would be forced to accept a long-term technocratic caretaker government to get a grip on governance and prepare for proper elections.