On August 5, 2024, the student protests against reservations in Bangladesh turned extremely violent. Protesters even stormed the Prime Minister’s residence, forcing PM Sheikh Hasina to flee to India.
August 5, 2024, marked the date of a coup in Bangladesh. Around 1 AM, an officer from the Indian intelligence agency, stationed at a secret location, was transmitting updates on the events in Bangladesh to his command center. Due to the urgency, he resorted to writing down the information on paper and sending photos to the command center. He traced the coup’s roots back to 16 months earlier.
The coup was planned by Pakistan’s intelligence agency, ISI, in collaboration with the CIA. Documents detail the involvement of key figures in the coup plot. Classified documents reveal a sequence of events from May 2023 to August 2024, pointing to this planned coup.
May 2023: Opposition Leaders Connect with the CIA
Before the elections in May 2023, leaders of the opposition party, BNP, were in contact with the CIA. During a lunch meeting, US Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu and the US Ambassador to Bangladesh, Peter Haas, warned the Bangladeshi ambassador that those responsible for non-free elections would face US visa restrictions.
Sheikh Hasina hinted at American pressure during her campaign. Intelligence reports suggest that BNP leaders were in touch with the CIA. After Hasina succeeded in holding and winning the elections, the coup plans gained momentum.
October 2023: Anti-India Campaign Against Hasina
Before the October 2023 elections, opposition parties launched a campaign labeling Hasina as an “Indian agent.” The narrative was twofold: Bangladesh was being turned into an Indian colony, and Hasina had sold the country to India to save her seat.
By April 2024, a survey commissioned by Hasina’s government revealed a 10-15% drop in her popularity, indicating the impact of the campaign. This was the early sign of the impending coup, though the planning had started much earlier.
March 2024: Arms Delivered to KNF Amidst Political Tensions
In March 2024, the US ambassador to Bangladesh, Peter Haas, left for Thailand, then to the US. During this time, a 117-119 page intelligence report was presented in the US, detailing human rights and democratic violations in Bangladesh.
Around the same time, a shipment of modern weapons from Thailand, routed through Myanmar, reached the KNF rebels in Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts. By April, KNF rebels began terrorist activities, marking the second phase of the coup plan by ISI and the CIA.
June 2024: Hasina Appoints a Trusted Army Chief, But the Plan Fails
To counter the possible coup, Hasina appointed her trusted aide, Waqar Uzma, as Army Chief in June 2024. However, this move proved insufficient. Intelligence sources informed Bhaskar that the protests were strategically incited when the Bangladeshi army had the least capability to mobilize.
By the end of July, half of Bangladesh was typically flooded, limiting the army’s ability to respond. Violence was initiated in regions where the army’s presence was critical, further reducing their capacity to control the situation. Moreover, the Bangladeshi army was heavily politicized, with a significant faction sympathetic to Jamaat-e-Islami. Any order to shoot protesters risked triggering a mutiny within the ranks.
Seeing the risks, the army opted for inaction. In July 2024, ISI agents infiltrated the student protests through Jamaat-e-Islami, escalating the violence.