US, Pakistani Support For Islamists Destabilized Bangladesh And Forced Hasina’s Resignation

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Written by Ahmed Adel, Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned from her post on August 5 amid unrest in the country and left her official residence in the capital, Dhaka. The main factor behind the protests that swept Bangladesh is the covert involvement of the United States and Pakistan, which has now eliminated an independent figure in the region by once again using radical Islamist forces.

The US wanted Hasina removed from power mainly because of her cordial ties with China and Russia and ignored her friendship with India as a counterbalance to the two great powers. As Hasina was seen as an independent president, it was imperative for the US to achieve its goal of removing her from power.

As seen with what transpired in Syria and Libya in the 2010s, the US can destabilize any country if it is in its interest. In the case of Bangladesh, the US took advantage of the student protests to overthrow a democratically elected government, supporting radical Islamists to achieve this goal, just as the previous Democrat administration did during the so-called Arab Spring.

When it comes to their interests, the US does not care about any strategic partner or ally, as seen many times in recent history, such as effectively sacrificing Ukraine in the failed attempt to militarily weaken and economically destroy Russia. At the same time, the US takes advantage of situations of instability for their strategic needs, and this is seen even in the South Asia/South East Asia region, where Myanmar also recently experienced a similar fate.

The latest protests and violence in Bangladesh began in July after student groups demanded the scrapping of a quota system for government jobs, which then escalated into a campaign to seek the ouster of Hasina, who won a fourth straight term in January, and was spearheaded by Islamist forces.

According to WeeklyBlitz, leading up to the resignation of Hasina, the Islamist nexus of the Al Qaeda-linked Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Jamaat-e-Islami, Jatiyo Party (Quader), and Hizbut Tahrir provided pocket routers so that there could be internet access through WiFi to participants of terroristic acts to help spread disinformation on social media platforms, especially Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. The outlet highlighted that the Islamist nexus utilized the technology as part of efforts to “[implement] their notorious blueprint of turning Bangladesh into a neo-Taliban state or a bankrupt country.”

This suggests that the Islamists were highly organized and ready to pounce on a mediocre issue (such as banning the quota system for government jobs) to topple a democratically elected government that was not opposed to the US but would prioritize Bangaldesh’s interests over every other, meaning not opposed to China or Russia. In fact, in efforts to rapprochement and reassure the West that Dhaka would maintain a balanced foreign policy, Hasina met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in February.

However, Hasina’s reassurance and rapprochement efforts were not satisfactory for Washington, which demanded total submission. Thus, the student protests provided the optimal opportunity for the US to activate Islamists and force Hasina’s resignation and self-exile.

The resignation raises questions about Bangladesh’s future and how this affects India, especially since, as Bangladeshi media reports, efforts to remove Hasina from power were spearheaded not only by the CIA but also by Pakistan’s ISI intelligence agency. With Pakistani proxies removing an India-friendly leader from power, New Delhi could have new security concerns to consider on its eastern border.

“Hasina has been sensitive to India’s security concerns. In return, India has been a generous neighbour, helping Bangladesh’s development as well as building connectivity to signal the economic and security interdependence between the two countries,” Ananta Aspen Centre CEO Indrani Bagchi told IndiaToday.

IndiaToday reported that anti-India anger had been expressed in the protests in Bangladesh due to the belief that New Delhi was helping Hasina remain in power. Now that a military-backed caretaker government is making decisions in Dhaka, things are more uncertain for India, which must ensure that it does not raise suspicions in the neighbouring country.

The biggest concern for New Delhi is the fact that the CIA and ISI successfully removed from power a leader who held a firm grip over radical Islamist forces, was friendly to Indian security concerns, resolved prickly decades-old border issues, and maintained a balance with all Great Powers. Obviously, the hope in New Delhi is that this balance will be maintained rather than Bangladesh becoming an ISI outpost to pressure India from another front, but at this moment in time, there is no certainty.

What is certain, though, is that the US has once cooperated with Pakistan to use Islamist forces to serve their agenda, just as they did in Afghanistan to fight the Soviet Union, but this time, the toppling of Bangladesh’s independent prime minister.

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