Bangladesh Coup plot Foiled

DHAKA — The Bangladesh army said Jan. 19 it had foiled a plot last month by some “religiously fanatic” Islamist officers to overthrow the elected government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

“We have unearthed a heinous conspiracy to overthrow the democratic government through the army,” army spokesman Brig. Gen. Masud Razzaq said in a written statement.

“The attempt has been thwarted with the whole-hearted efforts of army soldiers,” the statement said, adding that the plot had been incited by Bangladeshi expatriates in touch with “religiously fanatic army officers.”

Hasina’s government, which came to power in early 2009, made changes in June to bolster the secular character of the Bangladesh constitution, although Islam was retained as the state religion.

The move sparked a series of angry protests by Islamic activists in Muslim-majority Bangladesh, one of the world’s poorest countries with a long history of coups and counter-coups.

Razzaq told local media that the plot involved up to 16 Islamist officers, both active and retired, raising fears about the prevalence of hard-liners in the upper ranks of the 140,000-strong military.

Two retired officers including a colonel have been arrested and will be presented before a court of inquiry set up on Dec. 28, while an alleged “co-planner,” Maj. Syed Ziaul Haq, is on the run.

Syed Ashraful Islam, the spokesman of the ruling Awami League party and an influential minister, said anyone found guilty would be handed “exemplary” punishment.

“There is no room for conspiracy in the army. Those who are involved in such conspiracy will be given exemplary punishment,” he said.

Razzaq said Ziaul had circulated emails to serving officers, detailing a plan to overthrow the government Jan. 9-10.

The outlawed Islamist group Hizbut Tahrir, banned in Bangladesh in 2009 after it was linked to a car bomb on a politician, was accused of helping to circulate the messages.

There were rumors online late last month about a foiled coup attempt after the nation’s main opposition leader Khaleda Zia accused the government of “incidences of disappearances” in the army.

The army hit back, terming the allegations “provocative and misleading.”

Dhaka University professor Imtiaz Ahmed, a security expert, said it was important the armed forces “seriously dig into the matter as to how much the Islamists were involved, in which capacity and how big was the penetration.”

Bangladesh has a history of bloodshed and political violence since gaining independence in 1971. The country’s first president was assassinated during his overthrow by the army in 1975, and Bangladesh was run by the military dictator again from 1982 to 1990.

Democracy was restored in 1991, but street battles between Zia and Hasina’s supporters prompted the army to step in again in January 2007.

Hasina’s government was hit by a military rebellion in 2009, when 57 army officers were killed by renegade border guards.