NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH

Instability in Bangladesh, with eager foreign players ready for a role, is not in India's interest

- PINAK RANJAN CHAKRAVARTY

Sheikh Hasina left Dhaka with no option but to resign and leave the country. The military chiefs gave her an ultimatum that they were not willing to enforce the curfew and would not fire on the protesters. The chaotic situation, arising from students’ protesting government job reservation, had snowballed into a political agitation demanding Hasina’s resignation. The chiefs arranged security and logistical support for her to go to the president, tender her resignation and fly out of the country in 45 minutes.

The military’s role in refusing to clamp down on the violence encouraged the political cadres of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI). Did the military chiefs decide on this course of action because the rank and file of the defence forces, belonging to the younger generation, had turned against Hasina? The military chiefs might have come under internal pressure to act as they finally did. An anti-Hasina social media campaign by retired military officers also queered the pitch for the chiefs. Questions are being raised by observers who are wondering if the army chief, married to Hasina’s second cousin and appointed by her, turned against her for political reasons or the pressure of circumstances. There have been changes in the army leadership with one general being sacked and several others transferred.