New Delhi
\nBefore she resigned as Bangladesh Prime Minister and fled her Dhaka residence, Sheikh Hasina wanted to address the nation, especially the protesters whose agitation forced her to quit the top job. That speech was never delivered as the protesters reached her doorstep and the country\u2019s top security officers advised to leave at the earliest.
\nBig Charge Against US
\nNow in India, the 76-year-old has spoken to her close associates about the undelivered speech. In the letter, Sheikh Hasina has accused the US for plotting a regime change in the country and would have said this in her speech if she got a chance.
\n\u201cI 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 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,\u201d her undelivered speech says.
\nThe Saint Martin island has an area of just 3 square kilometres and is located in the northeastern part of Bay of Bengal. It is the southernmost part of Bangladesh.
\n\u201cMaybe, if I had stayed in the country, more lives would have been lost. I have removed myself. You were my strength, you did not want me, so I have left,\u201d it adds.
\nIn her message to her party members, she has said Awami League has always bounced back. \u201cDon\u2019t lose hope. I will return soon. I have lost but the people of Bangladesh have won, the people for whom my father, my family died,\u201d the speech adds.
\nThe Awami League leader had to resign and flee the country amid violent protests by students that started as an agitation against reservation and snowballed into a stand-off with the Sheikh Hasina government. Over 400 protesters were killed as the veteran leader tried to crush the protests.
\nHasina Clarifies Razakar Remark
\n\u201cIf I had remained in the country, more lives would have been lost 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,\u201d the undelivered speech says.
\nIt adds that she is pained by the targeting of Awami League leaders and that she \u201cwill return soon\u201d. \u201cAwami League has stood up again and again. I shall forever pray for the future of Bangladesh.\u201d
\nShe also clarified that she never called the protesting students Razakars.
\nIn one of the statements during the protests, Sheikh Hasina had said, \u201cIf not the grandchildren of the freedom fighters, then who will get quota benefits? The grandchildren of the \u2018Razakars\u2019?\u201d The word, used to refer to a paramilitary force recruited by the Pakistani army during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, sparked a massive backlash and the protests intensified. In her undelivered address to the nation, the Awami League leader has said, \u201cI have never called you Razakars. Rather my words were distorted to incite you. I request you to watch the full video.\u201d
\nHasina\u2019s Rocky Ties With US
\nRelations between the US and Bangladesh had nosedived during Sheikh Hasina\u2019s term so much so that Washington DC had said the January elections in which Awami League returned to power were not free or fair.
\nMonths before her exit, Sheikh Hasina had claimed that \u201cconspiracies\u201d were being hatched to topple her government and alleged a \u201cwhite man\u2019s\u201d plot to carve a new \u201cChristian country\u201d out of Bangladesh and Myanmar. \u201cIf I allowed a certain country to build an airbase in Bangladesh, then I would have had no problem,\u201d she had said in May.
\nFollowing her resignation and escape, the US said, \u201cThe United States has long called for respecting democratic rights in Bangladesh, and we urge that the interim government formation be democratic and inclusive.\u201d Washington DC also said that the US greatly values its relationship with the people of Bangladesh.
\nEarlier, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller had condemned the violence against protesters. \u201cWe condemn any violence against peaceful protesters. We\u2019ve been watching this matter very closely, both from our embassy and officials here in Washington. (We) have been monitoring the protests, have seen the reports of people dying, being killed in the protests. And we again, call on the government to uphold individual\u2019s rights to protest peacefully,\u201d he had said.
\nWhat\u2019s Happening In Bangladesh
\nWith Sheikh Hasina gone, an interim government under Nobel peace prize winner and Grameen Bank founder Muhammad Yunus has taken charge. Amid reports of attacks on minorities, he has asked students leading the protests to ensure that they their efforts are sabotaged.
\n\u201cThere are many standing by to make your efforts futile. Don\u2019t fail this time,\u201d he said, urging them to protect Hindu, Christian, and Buddhist families from harm. \u201cAre they not the people of this country? You have been able to save the country; can\u2019t you save some families?…You must say – no one can harm them. They are my brothers; we fought together, and we will stay together,\u201d he has said.
\nIn a major development, Bangladesh\u2019s Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan and five other top judges on Saturday were forced to resign amid massive student protests demanding a revamp of the judiciary.
\nSeveral other top officials, including Dhaka University Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr Maksud Kamal, have also quit after protests.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
New Delhi Before she resigned as Bangladesh Prime Minister and fled her Dhaka residence, Sheikh Hasina wanted to address the nation, especially the protesters whose agitation forced her to quit the top job. That speech was never delivered as the protesters reached her doorstep and the country\u2019s top security officers advised to leave at the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":424285,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-424302","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n