DHAKA: The Bangladesh army has foiled a coup planned against the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, a military spokesman said on Thursday.
Bangladesh has a history of coups with army generals running the impoverished South Asian nation for 15 years until the end of 1990.
"Specific information has been unearthed that some officers in military service have been involved in the conspiracy to topple the system of democratic governance," Brigadier General Muhammad Masud Razzaq told reporters.
He said the officers had been identified. Some had been detained and would be presented before a military court.
Intelligence officials had repeatedly warned that "fanatic" militants with links to the military may try to oust Hasina.
"A band of fanatic officers had been trying to oust the politically established government. Their attempt has been foiled," Razzaq said.
Hasina took power in early 2009 and has since faced threats from Islamist and other radical groups.
A revolt in the country's paramilitary forces in February 2009 started in Dhaka and spread to a dozen other cities, killing more than 70 people, including 51 army officers.
The revolt was quelled after two days but the country has since been shadowed by fears of further uprisings.
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Remember when General Jacob a Jewish Descent of Indian Army broke up West Pakistan and East Pakistan Erstwhile (Bangladesh).
All the Muslim Bangladeshi's have uncovered the 40 year old Jewish conspiracy now. Israel supported the break up of United Pakistan and duped India to fight its war not to have a dominated Muslim Country. Truth is out.
Do your own research and find out if it is true or not.
@che: Were it not for the Bengalis, Pakistan as a separate nation from India would not have materialized.
@ashok sai: You said it :)
@Bangladeshi:
We all believe you are a Bangladeshi, it can be seen from your name, really :)
@Imran Mohammad: I guess you git stuck at 7....
@Bangladeshi
You don't answer anything anyone says with logic, merely hatred. That is the ultimate sign of an ignorant fellow.
@Bangladeshi: " ... You indians already have the seliguri corridor which a Baised Mountbotun gave to India to connect Indian NE to the rest of India. If not for that seliguri would have been ours. USE your own land indians or else give us back seliguri. Will you do that? ... "
It is "Siliguri" for your information. What do you mean give it back to us ? Siliguri has always been non-Muslim predominantly (90%). What India got cheated out ( by the British ) was the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) and Cox's Bazar ports - these areas were predominantly Hindu and Buddhist NOT Muslim areas - and were gifted to Pakistan.
If CHT and Cox's Bazar were with India, there would be no need for requesting for a land route to our North Eastern states through Bangladesh.
From the information I have, Sittwe in Burma will be built up as a port for the North East states. So, my dear friend - the deal will not be on the table for long - India has too many options these days.
It is strange to see that so many Bangladeshi(I presume) who are least bothered about the coup but are ranting anti-India slogans and anti-secular chants.
India is fiscally supporting Bangladesh government for years and frankly it is unfriendly for Bangladesh people to forget that and all the help India did for Bangladesh. Had it not been for India's push at the UN, Bangladesh would not have been recognized as a country post war so quickly.
The Islamization of the country did no good for Bangladesh and many PAK agree here as well. The NE corridor agreement is an economic boom for Bangladesh and of course it is a political tool for opposition to stir up the masses.
The energy and commerce for Bangladesh will come from India in the future and Bangladesh people should look at the collective gain in twenty years from now, rather than looking everything with islamic passion and political party bias.
The present PM of Bangladesh secured lot of economic aid and concessions from India for the benefit of Bangladesh. Whoever comes to power in due course, cannot isolate themselves from India, as much as India cannot isolate itself from Bangladesh. So let rational minds prevail.
News from Bangladesh: 100 people detained in connection with Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT). Newspaper which published story on HT, has its publications removed from market. Key plotter Maj.Zia ul Haq is reported to have links with HT.
@Bangladeshi Good to know they stole and that way they broke the terrorists back once for all. The PM has lot of work to do cleansing the country of the terrorists. Cleansing without sending drones is good for the country. Just ask pakistanis.
@AL-HILAL: Seems like you want to impose your brainwashed version of Islam on Bangladesh. Bangladesh is a secular country occupied predominantly by Muslims. They want to show to the World that Islam is a religion of tolerance and peace, not bloodshed. They do not subscribe to any theory of superiority or inferiority. They have no wish or desire to bury their rich Bengali culture either. Bangladesh will become a model Islamic state if it continues on its current trajectory. Hasina remains the countries best bet and must be praised for elevating the status of women and empowering them. A real eyesore for radicalized misogynists.
"@Umer: When Hasina fought election Khalida was in power, how can Hasina have rigged the polls?"strong text
Your level of ignorance unbelievable. Khaleda ended her term back in 2006 when an election was supposed to be held. Then awami goons caused anarchy in the streets and killed 28 opposition activists forcing a Army backed intrim gov to assume power and this Gov favoured Awami league. India & US were directly involved in it. Have you ever heard of 1/11 if not check it up rather than showing ignorance. The army backed gov was in power for 2 years till 2008 and elections were held under them and this election saw massive vote rigging. The Al openly stole 97 seats by adding fake votes.
@Malik Hussain:
That is why they voted for the known secular party of Hasina Wajid? Does that make sense to you?
@Umer: lol there was nothing logical in your argument to begin with. You live in a delusional world where every thing is black & white. I just hope that not every Pakistani is like you or else PAK will be doomed to become an eternal western puppet.
@Hari: No thanks. People are already against this so called "Transit" which is actually corridor. Transit means when say a countryA wants to go to countryC via country B. 3 parties are involved in transit like say AF-PAK-India can be called a transit. One of the major grievences of the people against the current regime is that Hasina gave tarrif free transit to india. You indians already have the seliguri corridor which a Baised Mountbotun gave to India to connect Indian NE to the rest of India. If not for that seliguri would have been ours. USE your own land indians or else give us back seliguri. Will you do that?
Your knowledge about geography is very limited. Burma is further east of NE india. You can't have a land corridor to burma. You can only access their ports.
can anybody name a successful and vibrant islamic democracy ?
@Bangladeshi: India needs a transit access through plain land of Bangladesh to transport supplies to its north-eastern states since North Bengal is mountainous terrain and not conducive for heavy transportation. India is willing to construct the entire infrastructure for this transit route at its own cost which Bangladesh can use too. Moreover, India is also willing to pay a toll for use of the route.
Bangladesh should see this matter as a trade issue to make money off, rather than as a political issue. I do not see how transporting supplies amounts to a security issue for Bangladesh?!!! However, if Bangladesh is so sensitive, then India will obtain that transit thro' Burma. For a country which is surrounded on all sides by India, I think you should take a more conciliatory approach to India, though I feel you are within your rights to obtain a fair compensation for your services.
Bangladeshi: Listen bandhu (friend in bengali) Pakistan as a (semi) failed militarised state is enough. Read Khurrsm's brilliant editorial in yesterdays ET to understand why. No one in teh world least of all India wants to militraised failed states.
@Bangladeshi:
Can you say something without being insulting? Shows you are the biggest ignorant around here and very frustrated at being unable to win against logic, reasoning and facts.
No wonder Bangladeshis did not vote for Mullahs.
@Bangladeshi:
The fact that you can reply to none of my comments with logic, reason and facts shows that I do know more about Bangladesh than you.
What you said about government borrowing is the case in most countries including so called developed countries. I don’t know how you find it so unusual. Even China has over 5 trillion of debt against 3 trillion of reserves.
The divide of the Indian Subcontinent was a huge mistake in modern British history. The conflict between the two Pakistans, which led to the independence of Bangladesh was inevitable, as the two states were separated by India, which saw itself threatened. Last year's secularisation of the constitution in Bangladesh by the moderate government of Sheikh Hasina angered hardliners and some extremists.
@palash: you are another ignorant indian comming here to rant for your stooges in BD. Look bro are you trying to say you know more than us common BDs about our gov.The 2008 elections were heavily rigged and the economist even wrote an article about how Hasina came to power with loads of Indian cash. I don't need an indian to lecture me about how "successful" my country is. What democracy are you talking about. Hasina can't even stand normal critisism on Facebook. She knows that she won't even get 10% seats in the next parliament and thus out of fear she dissolved the care taker system. She is already planning to rig the next election and trying to cling to power with Bharati support.
" I will swap Zardari for Hasina any day. She boldly declared Bangladeshi secular state, does not take rubbish from Army and has confidence of foreign investors. What more can one wish for in a third world country?"
@Umer: I can see the height of Ignorance you are suffering from. I just pray to Allah almighty that majority of PAKs are not like you. You definitely don't know anything about my country or what it is suffering through.
I will swap Zardari for Hasina any day. She boldly declared Bangladeshi secular state, does not take rubbish from Army and has confidence of foreign investors. What more can one wish for in a third world country?
Common man of Bangladesh wants Islamic government not Secular that is a great concern for Sheikh Hasina... People might support Army coup
@Bangladeshi:
When Hasina fought election Khalida was in power, how can Hasina have rigged the polls? Is it possible to be more dishonest? Your typical Jamaat Islami propaganda will not work. Hasina came into power because Khalida had given free hand to terrorists and there was so much bloodshed by the religious fanatics, often those with Jamaat Islami background, that people got sick and tired of Khalida government and voted in Hasina with heavy mandate.
The two major political parties in Bangladesh-the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Awami League (AL) are poles apart in their political ideology,on governance,and as regards the best ways to secure parliamentary democracy. AL has revived the cases against the killers of Bangabandhu (killed in Army coup in 1975) and some of them have already been executed after due process of law, and a few more await execution on being caught (now living abroad). BNP's founder Ziaur Rahman ( then a Major General) is suspected to have his hands in it. True or not, for some reason or other, Begum Ziaur Rahman who now heads BNP remained silent during the whole process of the trial and hanging, meaning perhaps she was averse to it. Awami League's Hasina has now opened another old chapter, that of trial of the major perpetrators who allegedly committed crimes against humanity during Bangladesh's War of Independence in 1971. The chief offenders facing the the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) belong to Jamaat- i-Islam, one of the major allies of BNP. This trial after forty years of independence is regarded by BNP ( Salahuddin Qader Chowdhury, a former BNP Minister is also an accused) and its allies as vendetta on the Opposition and a ploy to destroy its image so as to win the next general elections due in just over two years. The whole political atmosphere is now highly surcharged and both are now drawn their swords. The political atmosphere has become further complicated when AL made major changes in the country's Constitution by scrapping care taker government (CTG) system under which elections have been held since 1991.BNP, on the other hand, doubts the credibility of general elections under party government. BNP also doubts the introduction of electronic voting system (EVM) which the Election Commission (EC) contemplates for the next general election. BNP also did not play any constructive role in the dialogue with the President of the Republic regarding the formation of the next EC. The major donor countries are also not happy with AL due to massive corruption in the development projects, leading to suspension of funds by WB for the high profile Padma bridge project. US and UK and most key nations of Europe are also critical for having removed Professor Eunus from the Grameen Bank which played a vital role in advancing micro credit to the poor, especially the rural women. It is in this backdrop that we need to evaluate the alleged conspiracy by the Army to dethrone the democratically elected government of Bangladesh.
Salam
Convenient timing to say the least. This will distract from the kangaroo war crimes trial in which for some reason there are no Pakistan, sorry West Bangladeshi military personel being brought to task.
The only thing our ruling class is able to foil is the path of the cocaine going up their childrens noses. no thats gild. doh!
Hizbut Tahrir are perhaps annoying, but physically harmless, but they do well amongst some in desh, especially the children of secular middle class men.
Implicating them in terror talk is very unjust. especially as its intented to serve them up to white power.
Duas
F
@Bangladeshi: Why would India needs a puppet in Bangladesh?!!! You have this utopian uber view of Bangladesh. It is time for a reality check, an acknowledgment of your place in the world and to act accordingly.
@Imran Mohammad: No!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is obviously a CIA,Mossad and RAW conspiracy!!! How can you guys forget that. Come on.. I have not read this sentence since a long time now... Please someone say this.. Please...
This hasina regime is a indian puppet which came to power via a heavily rigged election, The army is as frustrated as the general masses towards this corrupt gov. Its really unfortunate that the coup couldn't succeed as this Gov should be ousted as soon as possible to keep BD a sovereign state on the world map. If you guys think Zardari is bad you PAks should be glad that you haven't seen Hasina yet.
Indian media will start blaming ISI in T-10 minutes, 9, 8, 7........
Shows all Muslim nations can't help but be ruled by dictators since the concept of democracy, equality of citizens, rule of law and a constitution is hard to palate for Muslim societies.
Best wishes for our brothers in Bangladesh. Hope they can look at us before deciding anything.
Less said about the coups, the better.
I tell you again.. ISI is not involved in it.
Deja Vu .... BD & PK- two countries with the same blood. after all BD has taken birth from the Womb of Pakistan.