Jayanta Roy Chowdhury
New Delhi, Jan 23 (.) In a ringing statement just weeks ahead of elections in her home country where her party has been barred from contesting, Bangladesh’s Sheikh Hasina exhorted her countrymen to “rise, united, to overthrow the puppet regime” set up after her ouster, in August 2024.
Hasina who was speaking through an audio-link to a packed press conference here, accused the Mohammad Yunus-led interim authorities in Dhaka of plunging the country into anarchy and “placing democracy in grave danger”.
Sheikh Hasina, who did not take any questions at the presser where Indian and foreign media were present, said, “The entire nation must rise, united, to overthrow this puppet regime led by Muhammad Yunus. Let all forces who support the 1971 spirit confront the treacherous designs of the Yunus regime.”
The conference comes amid protests by the interim government against India allowing Sheikh Hasina to address people and days after British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Sarah Cook, visited India and met think tanks, and retired but influential Indian diplomats, possibly to influence Indian thinking on Bangladesh and the controversial elections slated for next month.
She also called for restoration of a non-partisan government, ending daily violence and lawlessness, to ensure safety of minorities and women and to stop “politically motivated acts against the press and opposition.”
“Awami League calls for the following : restoration of a non-partisan government, end to daily violence against minorities and women, politically motivated acts against the press and the opposition, restore independence of the judiciary and invite the United Nations to probe the violence and deaths during the last one year,” the feisty prime minister who ruled Bangladesh for the last more than one-and-half decades, said.
However, former Bangladeshi Education Minister Mahibul Hasan Chowdhury Noufel clarified in answer to a question on how the Awami League plans to oust the the current interim administration, “we don’t want to fight the army to create a civil-war like situation”, indicating that the “fight” will be through democratic means and protests.
“We have asked people to boycott the elections with the slogan ‘No boat (Awami symbol), No vote’,” Mohammad Arafat, former broadcaster and Information Minister in the Sheikh Hasina cabinet added. While Noufel and some panellists were present in person, others joined through video links from abroad.
Hasina, also alleged that Bangladesh was facing a “treacherous plot” aimed at “bartering away the country’s territory,” warning that the sovereignty and unity of the nation were under threat. The Yunus government had reportedly mooted creating an Arakan corridor to supply Myanmar’s rebel province. It has also been in talks with China for a number of projects which could see the northern neighbour in control of key airports and ports, besides considering giving lease options to foreign companies for the Chittagong port.
“Bangladesh today is a nation which is bleeding,” she said, describing the prevailing situation as one of fear, repression and economic distress, and asked all forces which supported the secular spirit of 1971 “to confront the treacherous designs of the Yunus regime”.
The Awami League chief said that since her removal from office on August 5, 2024, the country had descended into lawlessness. “Militants and Muhammad Yunus forcibly ousted me. From that day, the nation has been plunged into anarchy,” Hasina alleged, claiming that democratic institutions had been systematically undermined.
Hasina described present-day Bangladesh as “a vast prison,” where ordinary people were struggling to survive amid daily violence, insecurity and economic hardship.
The interim authorities in Dhaka have not responded to Hasina’s allegations as yet.
Before Hasina spoke, former Bangladesh foreign minister and Awami League leader, AK Abdul Momen said that the need of the hour was to replace the Muhammad Yunus-led government and “form a neutral government to hold elections.”
He also alleged that the elections planned for February 12 was a “sham” and that “major political parties, including the Awami League, were not being allowed to participate.” Such an exercise, he said, would “neither restore democracy nor bring political or economic stability to the country.”
The former foreign minister warned that Bangladesh was increasingly drifting toward extremism and terrorism, arguing that the current political environment was fuelling radicalisation and violence. He accused the interim government of deliberately targeting three sections of society—those who believe in the spirit of the 1971 Liberation War, members and supporters of the Awami League, and religious minorities, particularly Hindus.
According to Momen and theatre activist Rokeya Prachy, “attacks on religious and cultural symbols had intensified under the present administration”. They alleged that religious shrines, mazars and other heritage sites were being vandalised or destroyed amid what he described as a “collapse of law and order.”
The Indian High Commission in Dhaka witnessed violent demonstrations, while assistant high commissionerates were targeted with stone-pelting incidents last month.
Indian intelligence agencies view these attacks as seriously, following the circulation of rumours that the shooters involved in the killing of an Islamist leader, had fled to India. Subsequently, however, one of the accused released a video claiming he was elsewhere at the time.
Bangladesh which has witnessed widespread violence since August 2024, saw a rise in hate crimes and acts of violence since mid-December last year.
“Coordinated mobs” went on a rampage across Dhaka and several other cities following the death of Sharif Osman Hadi, a key leader of the Inquilab Moncha movement in a hospital in Singapore. The unrest raised serious concerns over the state of internal security, press freedom, and the safety of diplomatic missions in the country.
Earlier this month, India withdrew family members of Indian diplomats from the neighbouring country, after receiving credible intelligence warning of a possible terror threat to its diplomatic presence in Bangladesh. . JRC KK
