India knew, but Hasina didn't anticipate her downfall: Former Indian HC

Did India know about the things happening in Bangladesh ahead of 5 August?

"Of course, we knew," said former Indian high commissioner to Bangladesh Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, also a former special secretary (public diplomacy) of the Ministry of External Affairs of India.

But the question is whether Sheikh Hasina anticipated her downfall, he told the Indian Express.

"My sense is that she didn't, maybe if you stay for 15 years in power, then you feel that everything is okay," said Pinak Ranjan, who had discharged various diplomatic assignments in Bangladesh apart from the top office.

He was the high commissioner in Dhaka in 2007-09 when Bangladesh witnessed the 1/11 changeover. Prior to that, he was the deputy high commissioner in Dhaka in 1999-2002.

In an interview with Diplomatic Affairs Editor Shubhajit Roy of The Indian Express, the former diplomat said, "I believe the agitation would have stopped after the Supreme Court judgment, which reduced the quota to only 7%."

"More than 300 people died during those agitations. The protesters returned with a nine-point demand. They wanted the resignation of ministers, the police commissioner, and so on. Now, why they did that is a mystery," he said.

Pinak Ranjan, a well-known person among political, business and military elites in Dhaka, also said, "My view is that there were other influences at work there — mostly foreign and some internal."

"Since Hasina obviously did not agree to sack her ministers, they went on a rampage again. And this time, I think, it was a very well-oiled machine backing them," he claimed.

Why did it turn so political, with the march to Dhaka and demands for the PM's resignation?

"That is also a question. I would say that ultimately it was the army that unseated her by saying that, no, we can't protect you. We will not fire on these protesters," said the former Indian high commissioner to Bangladesh.