SOURCE: Times Now Digital
A book by an investigative journalist Yatish Yadav has alleged that a senior Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) officer believed that Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s murder in August 1975 was partly engineered by US’ Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
In his book ‘RAW: A History of India’s Covert Operations’, which has been released by Westland Publications, author Yatish Yadav claimed: “One of the Major rank officers involved in the coup had taken refuge at the American embassy at Dhaka on 20 August 1975, when he apprehended some danger to himself and the American embassy at Dhaka successfully interceded on his behalf with the army authorities and got certain assurances relating to his safety.”
“The Americans have (had) nothing at all to do with Bangladesh armed forces in the past. This sudden linkage between the American embassy in Dhaka and those in authority on the military side and the ease with which the Americans were able to sort out the problems on behalf of one of the conspirators certainly creates suspicions as to whether the role of the American embassy was more than that of an honest broker,” claimed the book.
Yadav also mentioned in the book that after the coup and murder of Sheikh Mujibur, China, Pakistan, and the US began exerting influence on Bangladesh and anti-India regime headed by Khondakar Mostaq Ahmad. Notably, Ahmad had appointed pro-Pakistani officials at significant positions.
The Indian spy agency, R&AW, then launched a number of covert operations to regain the lost ground in Bangladesh. The four key objectives of the operations were:
To stop anti-Indian foreign powers from exploiting Bangladesh as a base of operations for anti-Indian activities in the economic, political, and military spheres
To prevent such a situation from developing in Bangladesh, which might force the Hindus to migrate to India
To have a friendly government in Dhaka
To forge several beneficial links and get Bangladesh more and more involved with India
R&AW had also attempted to establish a Bangladeshi government in exile but the plan was shelved because of lack of enthusiasm of pro-India leaders.
R&AW officer NF Suntook, who was later appointed as the chief of the spy agency, wrote in a note which has been cited in the book: “The two prominent leaders who are outside Bangladesh, namely Justice Abu Sayeed Chaudhury and Kamal Hossain, whilst personally not in favour of the developments in Bangladesh, have shown no stomach for a conflict with the regime in Bangladesh.”
Yadav has used codenames for the R&AW spies in the book to protect their identity.
