Was Bangladesh coup US revenge for military base refusal?

RT
Sun, 11 Aug 2024 15:11 UTC

© Getty Images / Tomohiro Ohsumi

FILE PHOTO: Then-Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina at the International Conference on the Future of Asia, Tokyo, Japan, May 30, 2019.

Sheikh Hasina was forced to resign and flee the country earlier this week amid violent protests

Former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was forced to resign and flee the country amid mass protests earlier this week, has accused the US of involvement in her ouster.

In a message on Sunday cited by the Economic Times, Hasina signaled that she could have retained power if she had agreed to host a US military base in Bangladesh.

"I resigned, so that I did not have to see the procession of dead bodies. They wanted to come to power over the dead bodies of students, but I did not allow it, I resigned from premiership," Hasina was cited as saying.

"I could have remained in power if I had surrendered the sovereignty of Saint Martin Island and allowed America to hold sway over the Bay of Bengal. I beseech the people of my land, please do not be manipulated by radicals."

Hasina was referring to Bangladesh's coral reef island in the northeastern part of the Bay of Bengal and Washington's alleged attempts to seize control over it. A number of Bangladeshi officials claimed over the past months that the US had proposed leasing the island on several occasions, but was refused. Hasina said that "white men" - her term for US officials - met with her before the previous election and sought her support in building an air base on Saint Martin.

The 76-year-old politician, who held office for 15 years, fled to neighboring India following her resignation on August 5. She pledged to return to Dhaka "soon... with the grace of almighty Allah."

Hasina's ouster came after weeks of nationwide student-led demonstrations against a quota system for government jobs, which was criticized for favoring people with connections to the ruling party. Starting off peacefully, the protests quickly turned violent, reportedly resulting in over 400 deaths and around 11,000 arrests.

Shortly after Hasina resigned, the chief of army staff, General Waker-uz-Zaman, announced that he would form an interim government. Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Peace Prize winner known for pioneering the concepts of microcredit and microfinance, was sworn in as head of the interim government on August 8.

Comment:

In a message on Sunday cited by the Economic Times, Hasina signaled that she could have retained power if she had agreed to host a US military base in Bangladesh.

Looking for a source did not produce a result. From Economic Times, there was Former Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina seeks justice in first statement since her ouster published Aug 13, 2024, 08:52:00 PM IST

However, in another article in the Business Standard, there was a discussion of the claim about the Saint Martin Island:
Bangladesh: Why is St Martin's island in news and what Sheikh Hasina said

Bhaswar Kumar Delhi
Last Updated : Aug 12 2024 | 6:33 PM IST

A letter allegedly from former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was circulating among supporters of her Awami League party over the weekend, suggesting that her ouster after 15 years in power was the result of pressure from the United States (US) regarding St Martin's Island in the Bay of Bengal."

I could have remained in power if I had left St Martin's and the Bay of Bengal to America," the letter reportedly said.

Is the purported letter by Hasina authentic?
While the letter attributed Hasina's removal to her refusal to cede control of St Martin's island to Washington, Hasina's son, Sajeeb Wazed, said on Sunday that his mother had not made any statements before fleeing Dhaka on August 5 amid violent protests that led to hundreds of deaths.

Wazed's comments followed reports that Hasina was not allowed to address the nation by the Bangladesh Army and that her prepared speech allegedly accused the US of having a hand in her ouster. On social media platform X, Wazed posted, "The recent resignation statement attributed to my mother published in a newspaper is completely false and fabricated. I have just confirmed with her that she did not make any statement either before or since leaving Dhaka."
[...]
Earlier reports had claimed that in her undelivered speech, Hasina had allegedly mentioned that her government would have survived had she handed over St Martin's Island to Washington.

However, while the alleged letter that has been the news in recent days might not be authentic, in the past, Hasina has made a similar accusation on record.

On June 21, 2023, during a media conference, then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had said that there would be no problem for her to hold on to power if she leased out Saint Martin's island. However, she had added, "I have no intention to go to power by selling the country's assets." Hasina also did not take the name of any country at that time.

Hasina, however, accused her main Opposition, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), of having designs to cede the island. Hasina had said, "How did BNP come to power in 2001? They came to power by pledging to sell gas. Now do they want to sell the country or come to power by pledging to sell Saint Martin's island?" For its part, the BNP had described Hasina's statements as nothing more than "political strategy".

US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller had denied Hasina's allegations, describing them as "not accurate". Miller had said that "no discussions" on taking over the island had taken place with the then Hasina-led government."

We have never engaged in any conversations about taking over St Martin's Island," Miller had said, adding, "We value our partnership with Bangladesh. We strive to bolster our relationship by working together to promote democracy, including by supporting free and fair elections.

"What is St Martin's Island and where is it located?
With an area of just 3 square kilometres (sq km), St Martin's Island, also known locally as "Narikel Zinzira" or "Coconut Island", is located in the northeastern part of the Bay of Bengal.

According to the website of the Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation, Saint Martin's is located about 9 km south of the tip of the Cox's Bazar-Teknaf peninsula, and forms the southernmost part of Bangladesh. It is also about 8 km west of the northwest coast of Myanmar, at the mouth of the Naf River. The coral reef island, which is completely cut off from mainland Bangladesh, is home to about 3,800 residents, most of whom are fishermen. St Martin's is reportedly Bangladesh's only coral island.

© Image credit: Google Maps

Location of St Martin's Island.

Why is St Martin's Island geopolitically important?
The US' alleged interest in St Martin's could be based on the fact that a base on the island would help Washington counter China's influence in the Indian Ocean. As explained by a recent India Today article, St Martin's location, its proximity to the Bay of Bengal, and its maritime boundary with Myanmar could be the reasons behind international interest in the island, particularly from the US and China. A military presence on the island would strengthen their capabilities in the region.

The crux of Hasina's allegations from June last year was also that the US wished to acquire St Martin's Island and build a military base there in exchange for helping the BNP come to power. According to Hasina, if the BNP came to power, it would sell the island to the US.

According to a report by Bangladeshi newspaper Prothom Alo, the geopolitical debate over the island goes back to at least the 1980s. On December 18, 1980, a Dainik Bangla report, titled "None will be allowed to establish naval base at Saint Martin's", had carried a statement by Bangladesh's foreign ministry, saying that the allegations by several political parties that a country had been allowed to set up a naval base at Saint Martin's were completely baseless.

There might also be some historical evidence of US interest in setting up a base on Bangladeshi soil.

Speaking to Prothom Alo last year, Bangladeshi writer and researcher Mohiuddin Ahmad had said that it was in February 1971 that he had first heard about allegations of leasing Bhola's Monpura island out to the US. According to Ahmad, Hasina's father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, had held a meeting with the US Ambassador to Pakistan, Josef S Farland, on February 28 that year, with pro-China Left leaning parties alleging at the time that the meeting was about giving the Monpura island to the US, in exchange for Washington's support.

In 1971, the West and East wings of Pakistan fought in the Bangladesh Liberation War, leading to the creation of Bangladesh on December 16, 1971. However, Bangladesh's Independence Day is celebrated on March 26 because Mujibur Rahman had declared independence from Pakistan on that date in 1971. The Bangladesh Liberation War started on March 26 and lasted till December 16, 1971.

[...]

In another article from the Economic Times /India Times, there was
Last Updated: Aug 10, 2024, 09:54:00 AM IST

Bangladesh unrest: Sheikh Hasina's son accuses foreign intelligence, claims protests were instigated

Washington DC: Sajeeb Wazed Joy, son of former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has claimed that the recent protests in Bangladesh were likely instigated by a foreign intelligence agency, specifically suspecting the involvement of the ISI.

Speaking to ANI, he said that the unrest was driven by external forces rather than domestic issues and criticized how his mother's statement was distorted to fuel the protests.

"I now firmly believe this was instigated by a small group and most likely by a foreign intelligence agency. I strongly suspect the ISI. There was no reason for the protests to continue because the quotas were not mandated by our vernment and were restored by a court ruling. Our government had lifted the quotas in 2018 or so when the first quota protests happened," he said.

He alleged that the protesters twisted Sheikh Hasina's statement on Razakars, which led to the escalation of the protests.

"When the protests started, they were peaceful. Our police provided security for the protesters. Then they took my mother's statement where she said that we don't want Razakars' families getting jobs. They took that statement and twisted it, saying that my mother said the protesters were Razakars. My mother never said that. But this was spread online. And then, in the middle of the night, some group--nobody knows who did that--marched through Dhaka University chanting, 'We are Razakars'. And that is what happened. The other students, especially Bangladesh Chhatra League, our student supporters, and the pro-liberation students, got angry. They attacked the protesters, and that is how the violence started," he said while adding, "The police tried to stop the violence, and in doing so, some police members used live ammunition, which they were not authorized to do. Our government never ordered anyone to attack. Our government never ordered the police to use live ammunition. We immediately called our student leaders and said, 'Stop the fighting.' The fighting stopped. We immediately suspended the police officers who used excessive force."
[...]
Wazed said that the current interim government in Bangladesh, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, was 'unconstitutional'.

"We want a quick restoration of democracy. Right now, this government is completely unconstitutional. There is no provision for a selected government slected by a small minority, because we have 170 million people in Bangladesh, and 20,000-50,000 protesters are a tiny fraction of the minority. No one has voted for this government.
[...]

We have seen the above scenario play out many times before, a few protesters and shortly after the US is willing to work with the new democracy.
See also:

• Best of the Web: Bangladesh coup: India's growing anger with US foreign policy
• Pakistan election: Imran Khan's party wins majority, despite American puppet regime throwing him in jail
• Jeffrey D. Sachs: The US toppling of Imran Khan
• Best of the Web: Pakistani ex-PM Khan, wife, sentenced to 14 years in prison for 'corruption'
• Imran Khan and the 'successful' outcome of U.S. 'interference' in Pakistan: Fascism under a totalitarian military dictatorship

For the history between Pakistan and Bangladesh, see another article from the same outlet. For an external actor that is interested, there are plenty of embers to stir, and it might be difficult later to find out where it all began.

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman: Bangladesh's founding father gets the Saddam Hussein treatment after Sheikh Hasina's downfall

Last Updated: Aug 06, 2024, 04:54:00 PM IST

Nearly 50 years after him & his family was massacred in a military coup, 'Bangabandhu' Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh once again finds his legacy toppled by protestors who have overthrown his daughter Sheikh Hasina's regime.

Much like the 2003 Firdous Square incident where a large statue of Iraqi despot Saddam Hussein was pulled down following the US invasion, Rahman's golden statue was climbed on and pulled down by angry mobs.

As unrest gripped the Asian nation, violent protestors attempted to undo the legacy of Rahman by tipping over his statues, defacing museums set up in his memory, among other acts of anarchy.

August marked the end of Hasina's 15-year rule of Bangladesh, which was liberated from West Pakistan in the first place by Rahman in 1971.
[...]

Rahman's run-in with Pakistan
In the 1970 national elections in Pakistan, the Awami League, led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, won almost all the seats in the National Legislature and was poised to form the government of Pakistan.

When Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, the defeated leader of the second-largest party, conspired with Pakistan's military dictatorship to postpone the opening of the National Assembly, Rahman led a civil disobedience movement in response.

In a historic speech on 7 March 1971, he called for a movement that would ultimately lead his people to complete independence from Pakistan.

"The struggle now is the struggle for our emancipation; the struggle now is the struggle for our independence. Joy Bangla!..Since we have given blood, we will give more blood. God-willing, the people of this country will be liberated ... Turn every house into a fort. Face (the enemy) with whatever you have."

West Pakistan's leadership declared martial law, banned the Awami League, and ordered the arrest of Rahman along with other Bengali leaders and activists.

On March 26, as the army began its brutal crackdown, Mujib through a radio broadcas called on his people to resist the army occupation. Arrested without charges and taken to West Pakistan after midnight, Mujib remained imprisoned despite international pressure for his release or negotiation.

Following Indian intervention in December and the ensuing Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, the Pakistani Army surrendered to the joint forces of the Bengali Mukti Bahini and the Indian Army. In response to international pressure, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto released Mujib on January 8, 1972.

Mujib briefly assumed the provisional presidency before taking office as prime minister. He described the aftermath of the war as the "biggest human disaster in the world," citing the deaths of up to 3 million people and the rape of over 2 lakh women.
[...]