Radicals, ISI, NGOs politicise Bangladesh student protests
Jamaat-e-Islami backed by Pakistan's ISI, is under the scanner for instigating violence and transforming student protests into a political movement in Bangladesh that has impacted the routine of millions including Indian students there, nearly 1,000 of whom have returned so far.
The motive of Pakistan's army and ISI is to destabilise the Shiekh Hasina government and bring the opposition BNP back in power through protests and street violence, highly placed sources told ET. The Hasina government is monitoring the activities of opposition leaders, they said.
The role of the ISI to undermine the Hasina government which has cracked down against radicals is nothing new, but now, what started as a student protest against quotas in jobs has been transformed into a political movement through infiltration of cadres of opposition parties into the protesting groups, people tracking the developments said.
The role of Western-backed NGOs in Bangladesh and their reported involvement in the current crisis are also under the scanner of the local government, they said.
«There are reports of other elements coming into the picture — radical elements, such as the Chhatra Shibir, which is the student wing of the pro-Pak Jamaat-e-Islami, and the opposition BNP, which has been involved in the protests and demonstrations and has added a political dimension to this. There could be other elements that are inimical to Bangladesh's interests, such as the ISI, eager to fish in troubled waters,» former foreign secretary and high commissioner
