DHAKA—In an explosive claim that challenges the widely accepted narrative of the 2024 mass protests that led to the downfall of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government, Mohibul H. Chowdhury, a former aide and minister in the Hasina administration, has alleged the entire uprising was a “carefully planned” operation rather than a spontaneous public movement.
The claims suggest the protests, which began as a student-led movement against civil service quotas and escalated into a nationwide “Student-People’s Uprising,” were not an organic expression of public dissent but a deliberate campaign for regime change.
The Allegation: A Planned Campaign for Regime Change
Chowdhury asserts that the wave of civil unrest, which culminated in Hasina’s resignation and flight from Bangladesh in August 2024, was orchestrated through a systematic campaign involving international actors.
- “Carefully Planned” Chaos: The former minister described the disturbances as more than mere street-level unrest, alleging they were a calculated campaign of “mayhem, riots, disinformation, and mob violence” designed to dismantle the authority of the Awami League government.
- Foreign Funding and NGO Involvement: Chowdhury specifically pointed fingers at foreign funding and the activities of certain NGOs for playing major roles in organizing and escalating the protests.
- Targeting Western Actors: He controversially named US-based organizations, including the USAID and the International Republican Institute (IRI), alleging their funds were misused in destabilizing the government.
- A “Nexus” to the Interim Regime: Chowdhury also claimed a long-standing “nexus” exists between the Clinton family and the current interim government led by Nobel Laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus. He suggested that “funding of clandestine NGOs” was instrumental in engineering the change of government.
The core of the allegation is that the initial student protests—which began peacefully in June over the reinstatement of a civil service quota system—were hijacked and leveraged by external and internal conspirators to achieve a pre-determined political outcome.
Context: The July Revolution
The protests, often referred to as the July Revolution or the Student-People’s Uprising, began on June 5, 2024, after a court invalidated the government’s 2018 circular reforming job quotas. - The movement, led by students under the banner of “Students Against Discrimination,” escalated significantly in July following a violent crackdown by security forces and the ruling party’s student wing, the Chhatra League, which resulted in hundreds of deaths.
- The government’s heavy-handed response, including an internet shutdown and the imposition of a shoot-on-sight curfew, fueled public outrage and transformed the movement from a quota reform demand into a mass call for Prime Minister Hasina’s resignation.
- The uprising concluded on August 5, 2024, when Sheikh Hasina stepped down and fled the country, paving the way for an interim government headed by Dr. Muhammad Yunus.
Chowdhury’s claims offer a counter-narrative from the ousted government’s perspective, framing the massive public movement as a geopolitical plot supported by Western interests, rather than a grassroots response to government repression and economic hardship.
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