Ousted Bangladesh leader Sheikh Hasina tore into the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government on Sunday, branding him as a “self-centered loan shark” who plotted the country’s downfall with foreign players to quench his thirst for power. In an eight-minute virtual address, she also raised doubts over what killed Abu Sayeed, a student protester who became a face of the resistance.
Hasina, who escaped to India last August fearing for his life, had vowed to return to Bangladesh days ago, saying this was the reason Allah had kept her alive.
Addressing her supporters on Sunday, she accused Yunus of erasing Bangladesh’s history, especially those linked to the Awami League’s contribution to the country’s freedom struggle.
“All signs of Bangladesh’s freedom movement are being removed. Mukti Joddhas (freedom fighters) are being insulted. We had built Mukti Joddha Complexes in all districts to keep their memories alive, but those are being burnt down. Will Dr Yunus be able to justify this?” she said, warning the chief adviser, “If you play with fire, it will burn you to death.”
Her jabs at Md Yunus – the chief adviser to the interim government – were pointed and miles away from subtleness and diplomacy. Seven months after being forced to flee the country, she reiterated her claim of a foreign conspiracy that wanted to destroy Bangladesh.
“That loan shark, power-hungry, money-hungry, self-centred person hatched a foreign conspiracy and used wealth from abroad to destroy the country. The BNP (Bangladesh Nationalist Party) and Jamaat-e-Islami are carrying out (political) murders and harassing (Awami League leaders),” she said.
BNP, led by an ailing former prime minister Khaleda Zia, is the only major political alternative to the Awami League that had managed to dethrone Hasina in the past. Hasina’s ouster emboldened the BNP last year to try and reclaim power, but a comeback is unlikely for Zia due to her ill health.
Ms Hasina – against whom a new arrest warrant was issued in Dhaka yesterday – said the end of Awami League’s regime has given an industrial shock to Bangladesh. Thousands of factories have since shut, and those linked to Awami leaders have been burnt down. Industries are being finished. Hotels, hospitals, everything is being destroyed, she said.
“Awami League leaders are being framed for the death of vandals. Those who burnt down police stations and beat cops to death are not being charged. Cases are being filed against Awami League leaders. Our leaders are not able to stay at home, everything has been destroyed,” she added.
Mr Yunus was well aware of the fallout but he is driven by his hunger for power, said Ms Hasina.
“How will this country run if the law enforcement personnel are being murdered in public? Doesn’t Yunus understand this? Or is he guiding the country to doomsday? This fascist terrorist Yunus is destroying our country out of hunger for power,” added the Awami League chief.
“Murders Were Part Of Conspiracy”
Abu Sayeed was a student activist who died during the massive quota agitation ahead of Ms Hasina’s ouster. The police and the protesters made conflicting claims over the cause of his death at a clash in July last year. A more aggressive campaign by the students followed and Sayeed became the face of their protest. And as Bangladesh got an interim government, he was epitomised as a “hero of the generation” and branded as a victim of Hasina’s ruthlessness.
In February, a fact-finding report by the UN said Sayeed was a victim of a “deliberate extrajudicial killing” by the police. It also flagged the use of 7.62 mm bullets by the police in some instances.
Ms Hasina, however, asserted the police used only rubber pellets, not metal bullets.
“Abu Sayeed was hit by a rubber bullet. The police didn’t use metal bullets. A rock smashed his head when they were throwing stones at the police. Even the police had the right to defend themselves when attacked. But where did the 7.62 mm bullet come from? Who brought that rifle to the protest?” asked the former prime minister.
Ms Hasina claimed a top official tried to uncover the truth, but he was shunted. “When an official identified the bullet and said he would find out which civilians had this type of gun, Yunus removed him from his post. He did so because he is responsible for this murder.”
She said she formed a judicial enquiry committee in July to probe the death of protesters but Yunus didn’t let them work.
“Now exhume Sayeed’s body and conduct a forensic examination. It will be proved that all the murders were part of a conspiracy. I didn’t kill them, neither did Awami League nor the police. The police rather were victims. Those who unleashed violence were given indemnity. Will they be brought to justice? No, because Yunus engineered this. It was part of his meticulous design,” she said.
Hasina said the new regime has ended hope for the hard-working Bangladeshis.
“Top doctors and surgeons have been sacked. Political workers have been given police uniforms. Are they qualified for the job? No rules were followed. And the BNP is busy looting. They are destroying the country. Thousands of labourers are jobless. Farmers are distressed. Hard-working people are losing their means of livelihood. They are violating humans at every step. I can’t let this continue,” she declared.
Ms Hasina keeps airing her views on Bangladesh and the Yunus government through her party’s social media handle as she remains in exile in India.
Dhaka has been trying to extradite her and Yunus has raised it with Prime Minister Narendra Modi too. When he met PM Modi weeks ago, he accused Hasina of trying to “destabilise the situation in Bangladesh” and requested India to take steps that restrain her from making such remarks. Earlier, Delhi had raised concerns over reports of atrocities against the Hindu minorities of Bangladesh, but Dhaka maintained such figures were hugely inflated and most were “fake news”.
