THE WELCOME thwarting of an attempted coup by military officers in Bangladesh is a salutary reminder of the very real regional tensions between governments and their highly politicised militaries, not least also in Pakistan.
The Dhaka plot is reported to have involved hardline Islamist officers, retired colleagues, and conspirators living abroad in a bid to overthrow prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
Tensions between Hasina and the military have lingered since a 2009 mutiny of border guards over pay and conditions just two months after her election. Seventy-four died in the revolt, 51 of them officers. The prime minister’s conciliatory approach to the mutineers has enraged officers frustrated by the delay in prosecuting more than 800 border guards now facing charges. The issue played into the agenda of Islamists and other radical groups that have long bridled at impoverished Bangladesh’s parliamentary democracy, in place since since 1990, but which has seen two presidents killed in military coups, including Hasina’s father, and 19 other failed coup attempts.
In coup-prone Pakistan, ruled by the military for more than half its post-independence history, what have been seen as half-hearted attempts by the civilian government of prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani to bring the army, and most importantly the powerful ISI intelligence service, under political control have been central to the rift between Islamabad and Washington. That was brought to breaking point after a Nato cross-border air attack killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in November.
Tensions between the weak civilian leadership and the army, at their worst since a 1999 coup, were sparked by a mysterious memo last year, after the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, which sought US help in reining in the generals. Civilian and military leaders, President Asif Ali Zardari and the army chief, Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, met on Saturday for the first time since the controversy erupted in a bid to defuse the rows which have sparked rumours of coups.
Last week the military warned of “potentially grievous consequences” if civilian criticism of Kayani continued while the government fired a top military adviser. And Kayani is believed to face internal army criticism for not standing up more firmly to Zardari. Analysts suggest, however, that such elements may now prefer to see Zardari and the memo issue pursued through the courts and that they feel the time is not ripe for a coup, But in Pakistan, as in Bangladesh, it’s always an option.