Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today accused the United States (US) government of being behind the massive protests that ousted her from power after weeks of violence in exile in India.
“Had St Martin and the Bay of Bengal been left to the United States (US), it would have remained in the bottle,” Sheikh Hasina said in a message to her Awami League supporters. As ThePrint.
The leader’s comment comes against the backdrop of strained relations with the US and the newspaper said that Sheikh Hasina had recently said there were some plans to establish an air base in the Bangladeshi bay.
It was the first news since his resignation last Monday, weeks of protests and more than 400 deaths. Sheikh Hasina has vowed to step down “so as not to see the death toll that the extremists want to achieve through violence”.
“They wanted to take power over the dead bodies of the students, but I did not allow that and resigned. I could have remained in power by allowing the United States to control the Bay of Bengal and handing over the sovereignty of the island of St. Martin. . […] I request my comrades not to be fooled by terrorists,” The Economic Times reported.
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The former prime minister, known as the ‘Iron Lady’ of Bangladesh, lamented the persecution of her supporters following the death and impeachment of several Awami League leaders.
“Awami League stands again and again. I will forever pray for the future of Bangladesh, the country my father fought for and the country my family gave their lives for,” he added.
After weeks of protests in Bangladesh that began with a student movement against a system of quotas for public jobs seen as discriminatory, Sheikh Hasina resigned from her post and left the country on the 5th.
However, a violent spiral of police repression and student retaliation backed by supporters of the Awami League turned into a massive movement that ended the government leaving more than 400 dead.
While the former ruler is in neighboring New Delhi, Bangladesh has a new interim government led by Nobel laureate Mohammad Yunus, whose challenge is to restore stability to an Asian nation marked by insurgency and Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year rule.
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