Ali Imam Majumder, an adviser to the interim government, talks to The Daily Star’s Partha Pratim Bhattacharjee and Baharam Khan about discrimination between different cadres in public service, illegal detention during the AL government’s tenure, reforms to counter politicisation of institutes, and the challenge of making bureaucracy and police fully functional. He also discusses mob justice, attacks on minorities, and wholesale cases against AL leaders and journalists.

TDS: The interim government is talking about reforms in different sectors. Where do you think immediate reforms are necessary and how much time is required?

Ali Imam: We’ve almost forgotten the culture of changing a government through a vote. One of the main targets is to bring back a system where a government is changed through the people’s mandate. Besides, we want to bring reforms to bureaucracy and law enforcement agencies so that people can get the highest level of service and start to believe that they are the owners of the state.

I want to echo Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus’s remarks that the interim government will continue as long as the people want us to serve. We have already sat with several political parties to know their desires and will continue to do so in the coming days.

TDS: Fear has crippled the executive, and it’s not functioning properly. What’s your plan to make it fully functional?

Ali Imam: We’re trying to make bureaucracy fully functional. I know there’s a fear among bureaucrats. I want to tell them that professional, honest and dedicated officers don’t need to panic. But those who acted as party cadres will have to face the music. A vacuum Ali Imam: I’ll

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