After Chowdhury retired from his career with the Bangladesh Army, in October 2006 he was appointed as an adviser of the interim caretaker government.

Chowdhury and three other advisers, Akbar Ali Khan, C M Shafi Sami and Sultana Kamal, resigned in December .

[2] During the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971, Chowdhury was interned by the West Pakistanis as an enemy officer because of his birth and rearing in Eastern Pakistan.

"[2] He was held in West Pakistan from 1972 to 1974 and described the period as "miserable and wastage of time and working ability.

[5][6] As part of the training, he toured other military forces in Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador and Mexico.

After one year, he was appointed as Chief of General Staff and then as Commandant of the National Defence College from 1 March 2000 to 31 December 2000.

[7] Passed over when M Harun-Ar-Rashid was made Chief of Army Staff on 25 December 2002, Chowdhury chose to serve as an envoy and was appointed Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, where he helped Bangladeshi immigrants.

Working with the other advisers, Chowdhury was concerned by what he perceived as lack of leadership and unwillingness to take the right decision at the right time.

When Chowdhury learned of its deployment, he and three other advisers immediately resigned, including Akbar Ali Khan, CM Shafi Sami and Sultana Kamal.

Responding to a question about his position, Chowdhury said that he believed the regular agencies of the government were sufficient to maintain law and order.

Without his knowledge, the Moeen group had filed cases at night; they arrested former prime ministers and leaders of the two major parties, Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina, of the BNP and Awami League, respectively.

Awami League MP's, led by Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, strongly criticised Mashhud in the parliament for appointing majority of the directors of the commission from the armed forces, and he resigned.

[9][10] Bangladesh Nationalist Party MPs, led by Moudud Ahmed, supported the Awami position.