The affable chief of the Bangladesh Army has taken considerable heat since August 5, but the fact that it has been from both sides is the first clue you need to tell you that he has done a fairly good job in this role that - in the light of all that we know, at least - he never asked for. There are those, especially the supporters of the old regime, who remain adamant that the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led government on August 5 was the result of a betrayal by the army, in particular by General Waker-uz-Zaman, given his familial ties to the ex-prime minister. To them, the fact that the final ultimatum to leave the country in 45 mins came from General Waker, gives it all the markings of a classical coup d' etat, executed by the army on its own initiative.

On the other hand, those who are now busy tearing down all the markers of the old regime, and in the process overstepping the mark at times, were quite peeved upon learning that the military had taken in and effectively sheltered hundreds of individuals associated with the old regime in the immediate aftermath of August 5, as marauding mobs roamed the country baying for their blood. Naturally the army chief became the target for them to take out most of this anger, although the general, while coming clean, justified it on humanitarian grounds. Being closer to power, this group is more difficult to satisfy at the moment, smelling conspiracies around every corner.

Perhaps in an effort to pacify the latter camp, General Waker-uz-Zaman gave an important, wide-ranging interview to the Reuters news agency. It spread like wildfire in both our national and neighbouring Indian media, especially for the timeframe it provided, 12-18 months, for transitioning the country back to democracy. This of course stood in sharp contrast to the members of the advisory council to the interim government, who have very carefully avoided ever putting a timeframe on their reform project. It came visibly as a surprise to most of them, judging from their reactions, although the chief adviser and some other members of his team had already left for New York to attend the 79th UNGA.

Although it represented a dichotomy between the military and civilian halves of the current dispensation, General Waker was very reassuring in pledging his full support to the civilian administration led by Prof. Muhammad Yunus. With all sorts of speculation and rumours filling the air, the army chief's vow to back the interim government "come what may" to help it complete key reforms can help put the civilian leadership at some ease. In point of fact, and here he gives some insight into the agility of mind that perhaps helped him see the light and ask his troops to stand aside on August 5, the answer he gave left much room for flexibility over the timeframe as well. While some parties may choose to count the 18 months from today or the interim government's assumption of office, others can choose to interpret it as 18 months from the point at which the reforms are executed.

Whatever he may have meant, the most important quality General Waker-uz-Zaman displayed on August 5, in avoiding the bloodbath the ex-prime minister seemingly welcomed, was humanity. As long as that is maintained, we can invest our faith in him to not do anything that goes against our public interest.