(Image Source: Times of Ummah)


BY XIAONAN WANG
ANCHOR ANA COMPAIN ROMERO

The government of Bangladesh announced that it has stopped another coup de’tat plot. That brings the total number for aborted plots to around 20 since the country’s independence in 1971. So what happened? Let’s take a closer look.  

IBN reports, the army claimed on Thursday it had foiled an attempt to topple Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government.

NewsX from India has details.

Royden: “It was a group of at least 16 hardline Islamic military officers within the Bangladesh rivals who were directly engaged in this coup plan, and there were a couple of retired officers.”

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has enacted a series of reforms to crack down on Islamic extremists, and some speculate that led to some friction within the military.

An IBN reporter analyzes the cause of the coup.

Chakrabarty: “Remember, Bangladesh is going through a time when for the 1st time ever, the war crimes of 1971 when Bangladesh began independence from the India, those war crimes of criminals have been tried for the first time.”

In a coup in 1975, most of Hasina’s family members were killed -- including her father Sheik Mujibur  Rahman.

He was Bangladesh’s founding leader. Since then there have been nearly 20 abortive plots, two during Hasina’s government.

But there are also doubts about whether it even happened the way the government is describing it. The LA Times quotes Golam Hossain, a professor of government in Bangladesh.

“Critics of the government say this is an attempt by the government to make a plan against its critics in the military, that it’s a government-made plot... It’s difficult to know the exact situation now.”

But the Times also spoke to a political science professor who warns...

“This may be the beginning of something. If the military can’t handle it properly, it may turn more difficult in coming days.”

Bangladesh restored its democracy in 1991, after eight years under military dictatorship. According to Reuters -- Sheikh Hasina said those behind the rebellion were trying to “disrupt democracy.”