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Bangladesh’s ex-PM launches attack on interim govt, calls Yunus a ‘fascist’

Dec 16, 2024 12:07 AM IST

Hasina said Awami League is committed to building the “golden Bangladesh” envisaged by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, where people will be free of hunger and poverty

New Delhi: Bangladesh’s former premier Sheikh Hasina on Sunday launched another attack on interim government head Muhammad Yunus, describing him as a “fascist” leading an undemocratic group that has “no responsibility towards the people”.

Anti-government protestors display Bangladesh's national flag as they storm Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's palace in Dhaka on August 5. (AFP)
Anti-government protestors display Bangladesh's national flag as they storm Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's palace in Dhaka on August 5. (AFP)

In a statement on the eve of “Bijoy Dibos” or Victory Day, observed on December 16 to commemorate the defeat of Pakistani forces in Banglades’s liberation war of 1971, Hasina said that “anti-national groups had illegally and unconstitutionally seized power through domestic and foreign conspiracies”.

The lengthy statement in Bengali largely focused on the role of her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and the Awami League in the struggle that led to the emergence of Bangladesh. Towards the end of the statement, Hasina targeted Nobel laureate Yunus, who formed a caretaker administration days after she stepped down and fled to India in August.

“This undemocratic group led by the fascist Yunus has no responsibility towards the people,” Hasina said. “They are taking power and obstructing all public welfare work.”

There was no immediate response from Bangladesh’s interim government to Hasina’s remarks.

Hasina said the Awami League was committed to building the “golden Bangladesh” envisaged by Rahman by 2041, where the people would be free of hunger and poverty.

About five crore people of Bangladesh were covered under the social security scheme and given various allowances, but it has been alleged that most of these allowances have been stopped, she said.

The people of Bangladesh are burdened by the rise in prices and the hungry are picking food from dustbins, Hasina contended.

“As this government is not democratically elected, they have no accountability to the people. Their main aim is to suppress the spirit of the Liberation War and the pro-liberation forces and suppress their voice,” Hasina said.

“On the contrary, they are secretly supporting the anti-independence radical communal forces. The lack of sensitivity of the leaders of this government, including the fascist Yunus, towards the Liberation War and its history is proven in every step they take,” she said.

Hasina, who is currently in India, further contended that the interim government intends to erase “progressive ideals”, the history and spirit of the Liberation War, and “traces of the Great War of Liberation from all areas of national life”.

The former premier’s statements have already emerged as an irritant between New Delhi and Dhaka. In her first public address after fleeing Bangladesh, Hasina accused Yunus of perpetrating “genocide” and failing to protect Hindus and other minorities.

Yunus raised the issue of Hasina’s presence in India with foreign secretary Vikram Misri when he visited Dhaka last week and said the people of Bangladesh were concerned by the statements she was making. Yunus and other leaders of the caretaker administration have spoken of seeking Hasina’s extradition from India.

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