The CIA-backed coup of August 5, 2024, in Bangladesh

Anwar A. Khan

The stark and unfiltered truth is that it has unleashed far-reaching and deeply destabilizing consequences in Bangladesh.

In the darkened recesses of geopolitics, the United States, cloaked in the illusion of democracy, wears a mask of hypocrisy, wielding its influence with cold, calculated selectivity. Behind this veil of liberty, its foreign interventions continue unabated, leaving a trail of blood, instability, and broken sovereignties. And once again, the CIA, that harbinger of foreign manipulation, has set its sights on Bangladesh. A nation born of sacrifice and the dream of freedom, now caught in the jaws of betrayal, crushed by forces that should have been its allies.

The year 2024 would mark a tragic milestone—August 5, a date when the history of Bangladesh’s struggle for independence was sullied. That fateful day, a CIA-orchestrated coup, backed by treacherous local conspirators, toppled the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The steady hand that had steered the nation through waves of prosperity and development was now silenced, sacrificed to foreign whims.

Bangladesh, once a proud testament to victory in the face of oppression in 1971, now finds itself ensnared in another web of foreign manipulation—this time, spun by the very powers that once stood against its liberation. The CIA’s reach, long outstretched, once again jeopardizes the tenuous democracy forged by the blood of martyrs.

In 1971, Bangladesh had risen from the embers of colonialism, defeating the combined forces of Pakistan, the United States, and China, aided by India and the Soviet Union. The victory was a triumph of resilience and determination, and the nation stood as a beacon of freedom. Yet, in 2024, those same forces—the U.S. and its allies—returned with a vengeance, conspiring to unravel the very fabric of Bangladesh’s independence.

This coup, like the ones before it, was no accident. It was the fruition of years of silent plotting. The so-called “anti-quota movement,” masquerading as a student protest, was a mere pretext. Manipulated by extremist forces, these so-called students were mere pawns in a game orchestrated by the CIA and local allies, bent on creating chaos, weakening the government, and installing a puppet regime in its place.

At the core of this conspiracy stood Dr. Mohammad Yunus, a man with deep ties to the West. His rise to the position of Chief Advisor in the interim government of Bangladesh—following HPM Sheikh Hasina’s forced, illegal, unlawful and unconstitutional exile in India—was the culmination of a covert operation to replace a government of the people with one loyal to foreign interests. This “interim” government, with Yunus at its helm, was no product of democracy—it was the result of a coup, facilitated by the CIA and backed by extremists like Jamaat-e-BNP, ISI, and other right-wing jihadist groups.

The coup itself was executed with the precision of a military operation. As protests erupted and violence escalated, the real perpetrators remained in the shadows. Thousands of innocent lives were lost—lives sacrificed by extremist forces, including the so-called “Anti-Bangladesh Liberation Forces.” These forces, with foreign backing, terrorized Dhaka, murdering civilians and protesters alike in their quest for power, skillfully shifting the responsibility onto the shoulders of HPM Sheikh Hasina.

Bangladesh, born from the crimson sacrifice of its people—of every faith—was meant to be a sanctuary of peace and unity. But now, that dream has been desecrated, stolen by those who opposed the very essence of liberation. The collaborators of the 1971 genocide—those monsters who sided with the brutal Pakistani army—now thrive once again. Jamaat-e-Islami mass-murderers of 1971, their modern descendants, groups like Hizbut Tahrir, Ansarullah Bangla Team, Khelat-e-Majlish, Dhaka cantonment born illegitimate political squad BNP, et al, flourish under a government now installed by foreign interests.

More than eleven months have passed since the unconstitutional overthrow of Sheikh Hasina. Since then, Bangladesh has descended into chaos, its streets filled with lawlessness. Yunus, who ascended to power through a dark alliance with these very forces, took the reins on August 8, 2024. His government—comprised of thugs, mullahs, and a demoralized military—has plunged the nation into a pit of violence. Rapes, mob justice, and brutality have become the order of the day. The minority communities have been under incessant assaults.

Once a shining example of hope and progress, Bangladesh now lies in ruin. Under Sheikh Hasina, the nation had flourished with monumental development projects, but today it has been ravaged, its future uncertain. The cost of living has spiralled out of control, forcing people into despair. Factories have shuttered, plunging thousands into unemployment. The women workers, once the lifeblood of the nation’s industries, now struggle to survive in a land that has forgotten them.

For over eleven months, Bangladesh has been shackled by fear and oppression. The nation has bled and burned since the coup, yet the money lender who now sits at its helm remains indifferent to the suffering of his people. His callousness deepens the darkness that envelopes the land.

In July and August of 2024, nearly 98% of the murders—the deaths of madrasa students, street children, and the destitute—were orchestrated by these same dark forces, who cleverly pinned the blame on Sheikh Hasina. Their aim was clear: to manipulate public sympathy, to flood the media with cash, and to seize the power they craved for their benefit.

Under this brutal regime, justice has become a hollow word. Bangladesh is ruled by jungle law, where the killers roam free, their crimes unpunished. The international community—embodied by the United Nations and its High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk—has turned a blind eye. Despite promises of investigations into the deaths of 2024, he fell prey to those dark people, prepared and released a concocted report on 12 February 2025 on their dictations. The Yunus government, with its puppet masters, seeks to protect the perpetrators, granting them immunity from prosecution. This “indemnity” is a deliberate attempt to shield the criminals who orchestrated the violence from the truth.

The Western media, which often claims to champion human rights, has remained eerily silent. Rather than expose the coup and the atrocities that followed, they have parroted the false narrative spun by the Yunus government and its CIA handlers. This selective outrage—the double standard—is a stark reminder of the hypocrisy that runs deep within the international community. It is a world where crimes are excused when committed by allies, while those committed by adversaries are condemned.

What is clear now is that the actions of the CIA and its local collaborators have resulted in a profound betrayal of the Bangladesh’s people. The promises of democracy, freedom, and self-determination that were so hard-won in 1971 now seem like distant dreams, drowned by the machinations of foreign powers and their puppets in Dhaka.

Yet, despite all this, the spirit of Bangladesh’s liberation remains unbroken. The people who fought for independence in 1971—who gave everything for freedom—will not stand idly by as their nation is sold out by the forces of imperialism and extremism. The struggle for justice is far from over. The criminals who have desecrated Bangladesh’s sovereignty will one day be held accountable.

The people of Bangladesh, united in their resolve, will rise again. The day will soon come when the bare-faced truth is revealed to the full, when the perpetrators of the coup are exposed, and when the nation reclaims its rightful place as a beacon of freedom. Until that day, the struggle continues.

In the end, tyranny must fall, and the light of truth will pierce the darkness. The people of Bangladesh will rebuild our nation—not under the shadow of foreign powers, but in the spirit of the freedom fighters who gave their lives in 1971 for a better tomorrow.

Anwar A. Khan, a 1971 freedom fighter and advocate for justice, remains committed to writing on politics and international affairs