A non-political government, including internationally acclaimed economists like Dr. Muhammad Yunus, might be sworn-in ending the current political crisis in the country.
The sudden eclipse of a veteran well -entrenched leader like Sheikh Hasina from the political horizon might appear too dramatic, but for those aware of the mercurial Bengali temperament, the recent happenings are just natural.
It is being asked what political mistakes Hasina did that led to her downfall. The answer, perhaps, could be that she was copying Indian politicians without realizing the mood of her country’s youths. It is estimated that millions of educated youths are seeking safe employment in the government or public sector units. The reservation in jobs announced for the descendants of the Mukti Bahini, the irregulars who had fought for the country’s freedom from Pakistan, have now few takers.
The three-month old students movement is being led by a 26-year old sociology student, Nahid Islam. The anti-government demonstration became violent, when a bright promising Dacca student was killed by the police. This point blank police shooting finally wrote the epitaph of the Hasina regime.
A Warning for India– The ongoing violence in Bangladesh should caution India’s political class. The reservation issues might also cause unprecedented movements in the country. It cannot be denied that the rulers in India irrespective of their ideologies have been indulging in the social engineering i.e. the caste issues or exhibiting religious biases for political gains for decades. These issues helped them to mass wealth and political power without giving any substantial benefit to the common people.
It cannot be denied that there is a growing disenchantment even among those who are expected to be getting benefits from the reservations. The poor realize that instead of empowering the disadvantaged sections with education and financial support, they are being exploited as vote banks.
In this context, the exit of Hasina should be understood and its possible consequences on India’s sensitive political environment. It, however, has also exposed the all-knowing mandarins in New Delhi, who have just failed to understand the political mood and the forces inimical to India have quietly played their cards and successfully ousted a democratically elected government compromising India’s immediate as well as long-term Interests.
Indian Inertia– The Indian security establishment, including civil and military officers, a few diplomats and officials of intelligence agencies, can pat their backs for successfully rescuing Hasina. They may claim that she too might have been assassinated like her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, founder of Bangladesh, if not helped to escape from the angry crowds.
The lackluster statement of the External Affairs Minister, S.Jaishankar, in Parliament appears to confirm that he too, though a weather-beaten diplomat, has started believing the rhetoric of India’s foolproof foreign policy and the invincibility of her security establishment. The truth, however, is that his government has failed in preventing the Chinese penetration in Male, Sri Lanka, Nepal and now Bangladesh. It cannot be ruled out that the student movement in Bangladesh might be getting liberal financial support from Beijing.
Admittedly, Hasina wanted to revive the 1971 sentiments, when the Mukti Bahini had fought against the formidable Pakistani army, which had killed more than thirty million Bengali Muslims and violated their two million women in the age group of 15 to 60. The people of the then East Pakistan were angry that their leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was not sworn-in as the prime minister despite his party Awami League’s landslide victory in the parliamentary elections. The army dictator Yahia Khan supported by People’s Party leader Z.A.Bhutto has unleashed military action against the helpless Bengali Muslims.
It is not known whether the agitation against the Hasina Government received support of the army and the islamic jihadists, but it is clear that the students are in the forefront of the constitution of the new government. They have already ruled out the possibility of an army-led government.
It is being rightly asked that despite India having a powerful political leadership supported by the country’s security institutions like RAW could not counter the influence of the Jamaat-e-Islami penetration in the ongoing students agitation. A section of the agitators are now targeting Hindus and their temples.
The Conspirators– The Indian establishment and its media cannot escape their responsibility for not taking appropriate steps and the media for not giving details about the students’ movement in Bangladesh. The Indian media is indulging in accusations against China, Pakistan and the US, but these three powers have been working against India since the sixties even before the emergence of Bangladesh. .
In fact, the agitation against the reservations should have ended following the judicial intervention reducing the job quotas for the families of the Mukti Bahini to six per cent. Instead, even after the exit of Hasina, they asked for the dissolution of Parliament. It was done within hours by the President, Mohammad Shahbuddin
The Conspiracy– Haseena and her family were in Europe, when her father, Mujibur Rahman and other members of the family were killed on August 15, 1975, 49 years ago, at their ancestral home in Dacca. The then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had promptly contacted Hasina and ensured her safe stay in New Delhi. On the other hand, Jaishankar was evasive in Parliament whether India would offer asylum to the deposed leader
It is also not known whether Hasina was offered a better Indian security umbrella at her residence in Dacca by cooperating with the local security establishment.
The Threats -Hasina, apart from facing the political enemies of her father, also has been facing threats from the ISI, CIA and the Chinese proxies. In recent years by supplying weapons to Bangladesh, the Chinese have gained much influence in the Bangladesh army. The dragon has also liberally funded the radical Islamists as well as bribing senior government and military officers. It is also stated that if Hasina had not escaped, she too might have been assassinated or arrested facing treason charges like the Aung Saan Su Kyi of Myanmar.
Dragon’s Agenda -During the past one decade or so, Beijing has dumped it’s dated weapons at throwaway prices to Bangladesh,
And now in lieu of this assistance, it was keen to obtain contracts for the downstream projects of the river Teesta, worth billions of USD . Since the contract was finally awarded to the Indian companies, China naturally became furious. For this Hasina had to be punished. It was indicated during Hasina’s recent visit to China, where she was not accorded the protocol befitting a prime minister.
Amidst these developments, the Biden Administration too became unhappy with Dacca for denying the US a military base in Bangladesh.
It appears that history is repeating itself. During the sixties, the CIA, ISI and the Chinese had joined hands against India for supporting Naga and Mizo insurgencies. The CIA operatives at the American consulate in Dacca, then the provincial capital of East Pakistan, were activated for using the Christian missionaries to access the insurgents. The British secret police, MI-6, however, refused to join the conspiracy. The Chinese were providing weapons and training and the CIA was helping the insurgents in Europe with funds and media coverage. It was happening much before the US President Richard Nixon’s visit to China in 1972.
The details about these anti-India conspirators have already been published in a book recently written by the erstwhile Chief Minister of Mizoram, ZoramThanga, also a former insurgent.
It appears the Biden Administration has renewed the colonial agenda for setting up e Crown Country in India’s north-eastern region comprising the predominant Christian states of India, Nagaland and Mizoram. For this, the US needs a favorable government in Dacca.
It may be recalled that before their departure from India, the British wanted to separate the region from the mainland, but they could not implement their full agenda of fragmenting the country in 1947. They could partition India only by creating Pakistan.
Being the successor state of the British Empire in world politics, the US is now conniving with China, which has attained a sizable economic presence in the region with its technologies and capital for completing the unfinished British agenda.
The Revenge– It is difficult to say that the collapse of Sheikh Hasina’s government was sudden. It was being apprehended, but the mandarins in New Delhi failed to take appropriate counter measures to save the regime. They, perhaps,
lacked the necessary coordination among its various institutions to counter the agenda of the forces inimical to India in the neighboring country. If instead of indulging in rhetoric, the Indian agencies could have thwarted the enemies’ agenda in Bangladesh. There is hardly any serious study regarding the penetration of the forces perennial inimical to India .With the end of the Hasina regime in Bangladesh, the Dragon’s agenda to encircle its southern neighbor, perhaps, has been finally achieved. Ends
Gopal Misra has been associated with national and international media. His books on journalism and geo-politics have been well-appreciated. Views are personal.
