Do powerful countries really make and topple governments?

Prabha August 13,2024

Considering the current state of Bangladesh, it’s hard to believe this is the same nation whose rapid progress recently sparked envy in Pakistan. Now, Bangladesh is engulfed in violence… Who is to blame?

Bangladesh Crisis: Power can be intoxicating, affecting both individuals and nations alike. Since countries are led by humans, they aren’t immune to this influence. While many of us have heard claims about international meddling in various media reports, they can be hard to believe. However, recent events in Bangladesh have brought allegations against China, Pakistan, and the USA. This raises the question: How can one nation provoke such unrest in another that the government collapses? If they truly do this, what are the motivations? What benefits do they gain from destabilizing a country?

How do they instigate rebellion?

All countries keep an army to spy on other countries. Its purpose is to keep an eye on other countries as well as to get information about their secrets and to retaliate illegally in case of danger. Generally, all countries avoid direct war and they maintain their hold on other countries with the help of their spies. Wikileaks had claimed that during the Emergency (1975-77) an American spy was present at the house of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. This spy was sent by the American Embassy. Wikileaks did not provide any information whether the spy was from America or an Indian.

Why do powerful countries do this?

Powerful countries want policies of other countries according to their benefit. Like budget should be such that the goods of these powerful countries are sold. All countries should keep distance from their enemies and oppose the enemy country on public forums on their behest. So that their dominance in the world remains intact. After the Second World War, both America and Russia (USSR) became equally powerful countries. Both started pressuring other countries of the world to come to their respective camps. Due to this, many wars took place all over the world and many governments fell. By the end of the eighties, USSR started weakening economically and eventually the countries included in it separated. Russia remained a military power but became economically weak. At the same time, China started rising and today the situation is that both China and Russia are competing with America. NATO is with America and Russia and China are on one platform. Now again China and Russia are trying to surround America and America and NATO are trying to surround Russia and China. Due to this tussle, Sheikh Hasina government of Bangladesh fell.

Imran Khan had made it clear

On April 3, 2022, Imran Khan, while being the Prime Minister of Pakistan, had alleged that senior US diplomat Donald Lu was involved in a “foreign conspiracy” to topple his government through a no-confidence motion. Addressing a meeting of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders after the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly rejected the opposition’s no-confidence motion, Khan said that during the National Security Committee meeting also it was found that an attempt was made to interfere in the internal politics of the country through a no-confidence motion. He alleged that Donald, the top US diplomat handling South Asian affairs in the US State Department, was involved in a “foreign conspiracy” to topple his government. Leaders of Pakistan’s opposition parties termed Khan’s allegation as baseless while the US rejected the allegations.

Acknowledging that April 9, 2022, may be his last day as Pakistan’s foreign minister, Qureshi told the Pakistani Parliament, “Pakistan stands at a historic juncture today and now the people have to decide whether they want to live in a free country or become slaves (of the West).” He said, “As the foreign minister of Pakistan, I want to put it on record that after deliberations, the decision to visit Russia was taken for the better future of Pakistan and this was done many months before the situation in Ukraine.” Qureshi said, “Before we (the government) step down, I want to bring to your notice that the US National Security Advisor called his Pakistani counterpart and asked us not to go ahead with Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to Russia in February.” He said, “Where in the world does it happen that a sovereign nation takes instructions from other countries and which independent country will accept such instructions?”

That statement of Sheikh Hasina

In May 2024, while serving as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina claimed that a country had offered her the opportunity to win the upcoming election without any trouble if she allowed the construction of an airbase in Bangladesh. Though she didn’t name the country, she mentioned that the offer came from a “White Man.” Sheikh Hasina also suggested there was a conspiracy to create a Christian country, similar to East Timor, by partitioning parts of Bangladesh and Myanmar. She affirmed that her government would face challenges but assured that there was no need for concern. When asked about the “White Man,” Hasina replied that she had made it clear to him that as the daughter of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the Father of the Nation, she wouldn’t trade any part of the country for power. She also noted the support and congratulations from countries like India, Russia, China, and many others in Asia, Africa, and South America on her fourth election victory as Prime Minister.

The United Nations, the US and Britain expressed their objection to the elections being “not free or fair”. In the elections boycotted by the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), outgoing Prime Minister Hasina’s Awami League (AL) won 223 seats in the 300-member parliament. The Bangladesh government had invited a large number of foreign observers from India and other countries as well as multilateral organizations to supervise the elections. Despite this, the US State Department said in a statement, “The US wants to share with other observers that these elections were not free or fair and we regret that not all parties participated in the elections.” UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk called on the newly elected government of Bangladesh to take steps to strengthen the country’s commitment to democracy and human rights. Along with this, he expressed regret that the atmosphere deteriorated due to violence by opposition candidates and supporters during the voting process on Sunday. Turk said, “Thousands of opposition party supporters have been arbitrarily detained or intimidated in the months leading up to the vote. Such tactics are not conducive to a truly fair process.” Britain said that the standards of fairness were not met during the 12th parliamentary elections in Bangladesh.

Was America also a victim?

When the presidential election was held in America in 2016, Donald Trump became the candidate. Hillary Clinton was the candidate against him. In this election, Donald Trump was accused of being helped by Russia. The White House also gave statements on this. After the White House accused Russia’s senior officials of being directly involved in hacking, the then President Barack Obama warned that America would retaliate against Russia for launching cyber attacks during the presidential election. After Trump won the election, Obama said that he has ordered an investigation into the Russian hacking attacks and is waiting for the final report. He said that perhaps these hacking attacks may have affected the tough contest of the election held last month. In this contest, Republican candidate Donald Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton.