{"id":126263,"date":"2024-08-14T19:36:14","date_gmt":"2024-08-14T14:06:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/?post_type=editorial-analysis&#038;p=126263"},"modified":"2024-08-16T22:28:42","modified_gmt":"2024-08-16T16:58:42","slug":"bangladesh-and-the-foreign-hand-bogey","status":"publish","type":"editorial-analysis","link":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/editorial-analysis\/bangladesh-and-the-foreign-hand-bogey","title":{"rendered":"Bangladesh and the Foreign Hand Bogey"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the more fascinating theories in the Indian media on the<\/span><b> fall of Sheikh Hasina <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">suggests that<\/span><b> Muhammad Yunus<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, an 84-year old economist branded as a<\/span><b> &#8220;CIA agent&#8221;,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> has led the <\/span><b>overthrow of the mighty Awami League in Dhaka<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and outwitted its biggest external supporter and the regional power, India.<\/span><\/p>\n<table style=\"width: 100.151%;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th style=\"width: 100%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000; background-color: rgba(184, 165, 217, 0.53); text-align: left; vertical-align: middle;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><b>Relevancy for Prelims: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Emergency in 1975,<\/span> <a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/what-is-g20\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">G20 summit<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, RAW, CIA etc.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><b>Relevancy for Mains:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Bangladesh crisis, Conspiracy theories in Bangladesh crisis, etc.<\/span><\/span><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\"><b>Bangladesh and the Foreign Hand Bogey<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Conspiracy theories have long<\/span><b> enjoyed great currency in the Subcontinent.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They <\/span><b>don&#8217;t need proof<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and can&#8217;t be disproved.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rulers in South Asia have resorted to the<\/span><b> &#8220;foreign hand&#8221; theory<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> whenever they faced trouble at home.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Conspiracy theories were the <\/span><b>staple of Indian politics<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in the <\/span><b>second half of the 20th century<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When she faced resistance<\/span><b> against her authoritarianism, Indira Gandhi<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> reflexively blamed the foreign hand, mostly the CIA.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"vc_button\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pw.live\/batches\/upsc?utm_source=seo+upsc+batch&#038;utm_medium=seo+upsc&#038;utm_campaign=seo&#038;utm_id=upsc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Enroll now for UPSC Online Course<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As she impose<\/span><b>d Emergency in 1975,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Indira Gandhi and her<\/span><b> left supporters blamed the &#8220;fascists&#8221; at home<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and the <\/span><b>&#8220;imperialists&#8221;<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> abroad for trying to overthrow her <\/span><b>&#8220;progressive&#8221; government.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One had thought that <\/span><b>a &#8220;rising India&#8221;<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is now<\/span><b> self- confident and secure in its own skin<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">; and that it had overcome the impulse to blame the<\/span><b> &#8220;foreign hand&#8221;<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for any unwelcome or unanticipated development.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But the shock of <\/span><b>&#8220;losing an ally&#8221; <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">in Dhaka seems to have<\/span><b> triggered a Delhi derangement.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Conspiracy theories pander to<\/span><b> political prejudices<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b>discourage common sense<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They avoid reckoning with the causes of a <\/span><b>political catastrophe <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">staring in your face.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You<\/span><b> don&#8217;t have to be a geopolitical genius<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to recognise that Sheikh Hasina was increasingly unpopular.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">She emaciated her party and turned it into a <\/span><b>personal fief.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Repeatedly rigged elections, a <\/span><b>hardening monopoly over power, a shrinking bubble <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">around the great leader, and<\/span><b> growing authoritarianism<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> combined with post-Covid economic challenges were <\/span><b>building up anti- regime steam<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in Bangladesh for a while.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>student movement against quotas<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> provided the final trigger for the political blowout.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We can certainly empathise with Sheikh Hasina for <\/span><b>clinging to the conspiracy theory.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For she might be in the <\/span><b>very early stages of grief &#8211; denial<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; at the loss of power.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It will be a while before <\/span><b>she comes to terms with the sources of the tragic end<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to her extraordinary political career that has truly transformed Bangladesh.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hasina appears convinced that the<\/span><b> US overthrew her<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> because she refused to give America a military base. She is<\/span><b> not the only South Asian leader who is blaming the US for losing power.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To be sure, the <\/span><b>US military is looking for bases and facilities<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> as it responds to the Chinese military challenge in Asia.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But to suggest that the US so <\/span><b>desperately needs bases in Bangladesh and Pakistan<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that it is organising coups would be outlandish.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But then paranoia does <\/span><b>not need evidence to thrive.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The coup theory also gives <\/span><b>too much credit to the CIA.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>South Asian lore <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">about the <\/span><b>CIA&#8217;s prowess outpaces the agency&#8217;s capacity<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Consider the following: The CIA could <\/span><b>not organise the ouster of much-reviled President Nicolas Maduro<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of Venezuela in the recent elections.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>US failed to oust the communist regime<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in Cuba, in power for more than 60 years.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Both are in <\/span><b>America&#8217;s backyard.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Over the last few years,<\/span><b> Delhi and Washington <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">have <\/span><b>moved closer to each other<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on South Asian issues.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the last few months, there has been an important effort to <\/span><b>reduce bilateral differences on Bangladesh.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recall that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had introduced <\/span><b>Hasina to President Joe Biden <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">at the <\/span><b>G20 summit in Delhi<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and encouraged Washington to reduce the political pressure on Dhaka.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite the many questions about the January elections in Bangladesh, the Biden Administration <\/span><b>offered to cooperate with the new government led by Hasina.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The problem in the <\/span><b>end was not between Delhi and Washington.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It was about Hasina <\/span><b>rapidly losing touch<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> with her people.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even a <\/span><b>massive collaboration between the RAW and the CIA could not have stopped<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> the political clock that was ticking for Hasina&#8217;s unpopular rule.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"vc_button\"><a href=\"https:\/\/store.pw.live\/govt-entrance-exams\/upsc-books\/upsc-modules?utm_source=SEO&#038;utm_medium=PW+Live&#038;utm_campaign=UPSC+Modules\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Check Out UPSC Modules From PW Store<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\"><b>Conclusion<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Understanding and addressing<\/span><b> internal issues<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> rather than blaming external forces can foster <\/span><b>genuine political reform.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Embracing<\/span><b> self-reflection and constructive change <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">will lead to more resilient democracies.<\/span><\/p>\n<table style=\"width: 100.132%;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 138.042%; 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