The 2024 riots in Bangladesh, which led to the ouster of then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, were part of a foreign-funded and carefully orchestrated regime change operation, former cabinet minister Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury has claimed in an exclusive interview with RT. Chowdhury alleged that the unrest, initially driven by student protests over public sector job quotas, was later hijacked by external forces seeking to reshape Bangladesh’s political orientation. He accused US-linked NGOs, Western political dynasties, and domestic opponents of conspiring to engineer chaos and ultimately topple Hasina’s government.
Former minister Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury, who served as the government’s chief negotiator with the Gen Z protesters in Dhaka, claimed that what began as a grassroots movement was soon radicalised by foreign influence. He alleged that the protests were transformed into a broader attempt to shift the nation’s political course “over their dead bodies.”
‘EVERYTHING justified’ for ‘wholly biased’ Western media during coup — ousted Bangladeshi PM Hasina’s aide Mohibul Hasan exclusively to RT on 2024 US-backed putsch pic.twitter.com/qrvdG1P5Zh
— RT (@RT_com) November 10, 2025
‘Foreign Hands Behind The Unrest’
According to Chowdhury, at the centre of the unrest was a network of Western political families, US-funded NGOs, and local actors opposed to Hasina. He named segments of the US establishment , “especially the Biden family, especially the Clintons, especially the Soroses”, along with Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, whom he described as the “central civilian figure” of the interim regime.
Chowdhury further accused USAID and the International Republican Institute of channelling funds into covert operations that financed rappers, cultural figures, members of the hijra (third gender) community, and even jihadist elements. The aim, he said, was to manufacture social unrest by fuelling divisions between liberal and extremist groups.
“These activities were going on for a long time. They weren’t very open, but funding of clandestine NGOs was going on… they were hellbent on changing the government in Bangladesh,” Chowdhury alleged.
Military’s ‘Questionable Role’
He also said elements of the Bangladeshi military played a “questionable” role by allowing armed groups to attack police stations and government supporters, while trained snipers reportedly appeared as protests spread beyond campuses. “Chaos was carefully planned with this money… there were careful killings, assassinations, using sniper rifles,” he said, noting that riot police do not use such weapons.
Chowdhury further alleged that foreign media and embassies, including the US mission in Dhaka, contributed to radicalising youth online through symbolic messaging. He claimed these actions were part of a “meticulous design” later acknowledged by Yunus and his allies.
Hasina’s government, he added, had also drawn Western ire by refusing to cut strategic trade ties with Russia in defence, nuclear power, and fertiliser sectors, choosing instead to prioritise domestic economic stability. This independent stance, he said, “was not liked by certain countries” and placed Bangladesh in the crosshairs.
