In a serious allegation, a former minister from Bangladesh has claimed that the country's current caretaker government is intentionally inciting violence to push back crucial national elections and provoke neighboring India. Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury, a former minister, stated that the recent unrest, which included an attack on an Indian diplomat's home, was a premeditated and state-sponsored act.
Orchestrated Unrest, Not Spontaneous Protests
Chowdhury, in an interview with the ANI news agency on December 19, 2025, asserted that the violence rocking Dhaka was carefully orchestrated. The turmoil erupted following the death of student leader Sharif Osman Hadi. Chowdhury claimed that Hadi was actually killed by someone from within his own armed group. He accused the interim administration under Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus of exploiting this death to mobilize extremist factions and sympathetic political groups across Bangladesh.
The protests quickly escalated beyond control, turning into overnight chaos in the capital. This included incidents of arson and targeted attacks on major media institutions. Prominent newspaper offices of The Daily Star and Prothom Alo were among the properties attacked.
A "Pre-Planned" Provocation Against India
The former minister made a particularly grave accusation regarding an attack on the residence of India's Deputy High Commissioner in Dhaka. Chowdhury labeled this assault as "pre-planned and state-sponsored" with a clear objective: to provoke India and internationalize the ongoing domestic crisis. By deliberately involving foreign missions, he argued, the Yunus regime aims to draw global attention and complicate the political situation further.
Chowdhury alleged that interim ministers are directly inciting violence and targeting grassroots political workers. He described scenes where extremist crowds were responding to explicit calls for bloodshed from these ministers, indicating a top-down strategy of chaos rather than a bottom-up public uprising.
The Political Endgame: Delaying Elections
The core motive behind this orchestrated chaos, according to the former minister, is to create a justification for postponing the upcoming general elections. By destabilizing the nation and creating a law-and-order crisis, the interim government could argue that conditions are not conducive for a free and fair poll. This move would effectively extend the tenure of the unelected caretaker government led by Yunus.
Chowdhury's allegations paint a picture of a calculated political maneuver where domestic violence is weaponized to achieve a delay in the democratic process while simultaneously straining diplomatic relations with India. The situation remains tense, with the international community closely watching the developments in Dhaka.
