The dismantling of states rarely happens overnight. In Iraq, Libya, and Syria, it took years of calibrated pressure, external intervention paired with internal fracture, to hollow out institutions and leave behind fragile polities.

What is startling about Bangladesh today is not merely the resemblance to those trajectories, but the speed with which similar forces appear to be gaining ground.

In a remarkably short span, the state has begun to look less like a sovereign actor and more like an arena—open and increasingly pliable to transnational interests.

Equally alarming is the passivity of those charged with guarding the state. Internal political actors and the civil-military administration have displayed a striking inability—or unwillingness—to assert authority.

The result is a rapid erosion of state capacity, as core institutions weaken and public space is surrendered to coordinated pressure from beyond the country’s borders.

Into this vacuum has stepped a familiar playbook. Under the banner of grievance and justice, a right-wing agenda is advancing through the targeted vandalism of established media houses and cultural institutions.

The murder of Osman Hadi—an event that rightly provoked public outrage—has been instrumentalized, folded together with legitimate anger over Sheikh Hasina’s stay in India, and repackaged as a mobilizing myth.

Attacks on Indian diplomatic premises are less spontaneous expressions of fury than calculated signals, designed to sustain popular momentum and lend these actions a nationalist veneer.

What follows appears increasingly scripted. There are moves underway to float the idea of a so-called “Revolutionary Government,” carefully constructed around the symbolism of Hadi’s death and the emotional charge it carries.

This project, reportedly shepherded by a prominent newspaper editor, has the markings of “orchestration” rather than “organic revolt.”

From incendiary speeches by student leaders at the Shaheed Minar to the sequence of protests that follow, events seem less accidental than arranged—each step advancing a predetermined narrative.

This moment demands clarity. Bangladesh is currently governed by an interim administration born of a student-led mass uprising. But the public demand is unmistakable now: a swift transition to an elected government through credible elections.

Against this backdrop, the push for an alternative “Revolutionary Government” is not only unnecessary but deeply suspect. Rather than restoring democratic legitimacy, it risks prolonging instability and further hollowing out the state.

Descending into chaos?

It is being learned from multiple sources that this upcoming revolutionary government will begin issuing various civil and military directives as an alternative power center.

Already, the widely discussed editor has issued instructions to form an informal community and neighbourhood based "committees for law and order” in all the places. This significantly challenges the operational scope of the authorised security forces, although they remain largely indifferent toward those issuing such commands.

Those familiar with the geopolitical experiences of the last two decades are aware of the activities of alternative power centers like ISIS or Daesh.

To advance the upcoming "Alternative Revolutionary Government" project in Bangladesh, the editor in question has a strategic understanding with several groups, including Daesh and Hizb ut-Tahrir.

Over the past sixteen months, they have also become well-organized within various positions of the interim administration.

From such announcements and the combined force of the vandalism seen over the last few days, the real reason for keeping Dhaka University closed under the pretext of earthquake concerns is becoming clear.

It is surprising that no student of Dhaka University is questioning why their university is shut down in this manner over minor construction-related work. In reality, this closure persists to provide the necessary manpower for the ongoing programs of the right-wing factions.

However, while one particular political party and its student wing were in the driver’s seat at the beginning of this game, they will soon see how they have merely become fodder for the projects of various regional factions of Daesh and Hizb ut-Tahrir.

Meanwhile, some right-wing theorists calculate that they have no choice but to tear apart the social mosaic before Tarique Rahman returns to the country and exerts influence over the situation.

For this reason, they are rapidly launching one program after another. Simultaneously, efforts are being made to keep the armed forces constantly demoralized and burdened with an inferiority complex through the "Disappearance Commission" and "Bot forces."

So, overall, a pincer attack to turn Bangladesh into a failed state has begun. Now the question is–-can Bangladesh stand firm in the face of an existential crisis?

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