New Delhi: Media sources stated that former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina disclosed that she might have continued to hold her position if she had “surrendered” the sovereignty of Saint Martin Island and “allowed America to hold sway over the Bay of Bengal.”
Sharing the details of her unfinished speech, Hasina, 76, stated that she quit to avoid witnessing a “procession of dead bodies” when she flew to India on August 5 amidst violent protests in her nation.
These disclosures are a part of her speech that she intended to give but was unable to do so as demonstrators reached her home and she had to leave the country.
The former prime minister declared that she “would return to Bangladesh soon” despite being hurt that the Awami League, her party, was being attacked.
She said that she would pray for the future of Bangladesh.
“I resigned so that I did not have to see the procession of dead bodies. They wanted to come to power over the dead bodies of students, but I did not allow it. I resigned from the premiership. I could have remained in power if I had surrendered the sovereignty of Saint Martin Island and allowed America to hold sway over the Bay of Bengal. I beseech to the people of my land, please do not be manipulated by radicals,” her undelivered speech says.
The undelivered speech says, “If I had remained in the country, more lives would have been lost, and more resources would have been destroyed. I made the extremely difficult decision to exit. I became your leader because you chose me, you were my strength.”
In May, Hasina had claimed that ‘conspiracies’ were being hatched to topple her government. She alleged a ‘white man’s’ plot, which she described as an attempt to carve a new ‘Christian country’ out of Bangladesh, thereby highlighting the religious and geopolitical tensions in the region.
Hasina had claimed that if she had allowed a certain country, which she did not name, to build an airbase in Bangladesh, then she would have had no problem. This statement sheds light on the delicate balance of power in the region and the potential influence of foreign powers on Bangladesh’s internal politics.
Bangladesh saw protests against job quotas that snowballed into a wider movement against the Bangladeshi leadership. The protests were sparked by dissatisfaction with the job quota system and evolved into a broader movement against the government, ultimately forcing Sheikh Hasina to resign from the Prime Minister’s post.
Over 400 people have lost their lives in the protests since mid-July.
After Hasina’s departure to India, Nobel laureate and microfinance pioneer Muhammad Yunus took over as the head of the interim government on Thursday and assured that the new regime would not only restore peace in the country but also ensure the protection of Hindus and other minorities.
Amid massive student protests demanding a revamp of the judiciary, Bangladesh Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan and five other top judges were forced to resign on Saturday.
–IANS
