Bangla Intel Report: Khaleda Zia’s son, Pak's ISI & London plan in Dhaka upheaval

New Delhi: The plan for regime change in Bangladesh was reportedly drafted in London in collaboration with Pakistan's ISI, according to Bangladesh intelligence reports. Bangladeshi officials have claimed they have evidence of meetings between Tarique Rahman, the acting chief of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and son of Khaleda Zia, and ISI officials in Saudi Arabia.

In the lead up to the violence, several “anti-Bangladesh” handles on X were continuously fuelling the protest. Over 500 negative tweets were made against the Sheikh Hasina government, including those from Pakistani handles.

Sources said the Pakistan Army and the ISI aimed to destabilise Hasina’s government and restore the opposition BNP, which is known to be pro-Pakistan. China, through the ISI, also played a role in escalating the protests that eventually forced Hasina to flee to India.

What started as a protest against job reservations, evolved into a broader anti-government movement against Hasina, leaving over 400 dead and hundreds more injured.

The intelligence establishment said the ISI-backed Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS), the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, inflamed the protests and turned it into a determined effort to replace Hasina with a regime that is friendly to Pakistan and China.