Dhaka, Aug. 8 -- As the truth behind Bangladesh's military procurement scandal emerges, Tarique Ahmed Siddique stands exposed as the architect of one of the country's most brazen networks of state corruption.

During the Awami League's prolonged and illegitimate rule spanning over 15 years and enabled by a voterless election, Bangladesh witnessed the rise of a full-fledged mafia regime. While Sheikh Hasina stood as the nominal head of this so-called constitutional government, the reality was starkly different. The administration survived not on democratic legitimacy, but on the muscle and machinery of an entrenched criminal network.

At the heart of this regime was a web of corruption, enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, supp...