By : Sanjoy Kumar Barua
From her exile in India, Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh’s deposed Prime Minister
has vowed to bring Nobel laureate and current interim government leader Muhammad Yunus to justice, accusing him of orchestrating the killing of student activist Abu Sayed during recent anti-reservation protests.
Speaking virtually from India at an event organized by her Awami League’s supporters in London, Hasina accused Yunus and others of conspiring to incite public anger, leading to the collapse of her government on August 5.
Hasina dismissed allegations that her administration had ordered police to fire on protesters during the July-August agitation against government job reservations.
Rejecting claims that her government used lethal force, Hasina maintained that only rubber bullets were deployed to control the agitated crowds.
“I never ordered violence against my people,” she insisted, pinning the blame on Yunus for orchestrating the unrest.
She accused Yunus and his allies of stoking unrest, culminating in Sayed’s death during a confrontation between protesters and police outside Begum Rokeya University in Rangpur on July 16.
The tragedy, she argued, was a deliberate move to fuel public outrage and destabilize her leadership.
His death, Hasina said, intensified protests and contributed to her government’s downfall.
She accused Yunus’s interim government of persecuting religious minorities and vowed to hold him accountable for his actions, declaring, “A new dawn will soon end the darkness in our country.”
Her exile came after a dramatic turn of events on August 5, when protesters stormed her official residence, Gono Bhaban.
Just hours before, a military aircraft evacuated her to safety in India.
Days later, Yunus assumed leadership of the interim government in Dhaka, solidifying the dramatic shift in power.
The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), ironically established during Hasina’s tenure in 2009 to prosecute war crimes from Bangladesh’s 1971 Liberation War, has now turned its gaze on her.
Arrest warrants have been issued against Hasina and 45 others, accusing them of crimes against humanity during the tumultuous protests.
Yunus’s government has indicated it will request Hasina’s extradition from India under an existing treaty, should her presence be required for legal proceedings in Bangladesh.
The ICT has since banned the publication of her statements within Bangladesh, underscoring the volatile state of the nation’s politics.
In her London address, Hasina also criticised Yunus for his government’s handling of religious minorities and reiterated her intent to bring him to justice.
This follows a similar virtual speech delivered in New York last week, in which she sharply criticised the interim government.
In her address, she claimed that there were plans to assassinate her and her sister Sheikh Rehana, just like their father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who was assassinated in 1975.
Referring to the attack on her official residence in Dhaka on August 5, Hasina said: “The armed protestors were directed towards Gono Bhaban. If the security guards opened fire, many lives would have been lost. It was a matter of 25-30 minutes, and I was forced to leave. I told them [guards] not to fire no matter what happened.”
“Today, I am being accused of genocide. In reality, Yunus has been involved in genocide in a meticulously designed manner. The masterminds — the student coordinators and Yunus — are behind this genocide,” she said.
Hasina said the current government in Dhaka failed to protect the minorities.
In a reference to the arrest of Hindu priest Chinmoy Krishna Das, Hasina said: “Hindus, Buddhists, Christians — no one has been spared. Eleven churches have been razed, temples and Buddhist shrines have been broken. When the Hindus protested, the ISKCON leader was arrested.”
“What is this persecution of minorities for? Why are they being ruthlessly persecuted and attacked?” she said.
“People no longer have the right to justice… I never even got the time to resign,” she said, speaking in Bengali.
Hasina said she left Bangladesh in August to stop the violence, but that did not happen.
Ties between India and Bangladesh came under strain after the interim government headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus came to power in August, following the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
In a strong message, India had said the interim government in Bangladesh must shoulder its responsibility of protecting all minorities while expressing serious concern over the “surge” of extremist rhetoric and increasing incidents of violence against Hindus.
India said the case of Das, arrested for alleged sedition, should be dealt with in a just, fair, and transparent manner, India stated.
Bangladesh is on the edge of a national crisis, as escalating violence against religious minorities and the rise of extremism threaten to destabilize the nation.
The collapse of Sheikh Hasina’s government has fueled political chaos, while attacks on vulnerable communities intensify unchecked.
The controversial release of convicted militants only exacerbates fears of widespread radicalization.
In this volatile environment, Bangladesh faces the imminent risk of fragmentation, with its democratic values and societal cohesion hanging by a thread.
Source : The Chittagong Hill Tracts
