Responding to ousted former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s fiery first public handle from India, the place she lives in exile, nation’s interim authorities on Sunday feared her remarks might spark political instability forward of the final elections slated to happen on February 12.
Sounding warning, Bangladesh’s interim authorities stated permitting Hasina to talk in Delhi “units a harmful precedent vis-a-vis the way forward for Bangladesh-India relations”.
In her first public handle from India, Sheikh Hasina on Friday referred to as on residents to stand up in opposition to the interim administration headed by Muhammad Yunus, saying that it’s incapable of delivering free and honest elections.
She raised severe allegations in opposition to the Yunus-led interim authorities of Bangladesh, accusing it of permitting violence, torture, assaults on minorities and sexual assault in opposition to ladies.
Bangladesh’s counter
Expressing concern over deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina being allowed to handle a public gathering in India, Bangladesh interim authorities stated on Sunday her remarks might have an effect on the nation’s political stability forward of the final elections.
In a press release issued in Dhaka, carried by state-run Bangladesh Sangbad Sanstha (BSS) information company, the Bangladeshi overseas ministry stated it was “stunned” and “shocked” that Hasina was permitted to talk at a public occasion in New Delhi and make political feedback in opposition to the interim authorities, the state-run BSS information company reported.
Hearken to Hasina’s handle right here
“This clearly endangers Bangladesh’s democratic transition and peace and safety,” stated the overseas ministry assertion.
Bangladesh’s large warning
The overseas ministry added that India is but to behave on “obligations” to ship Sheikh Hasina again to Bangladesh beneath the extradition treaty, for the loss of life sentence by the Worldwide Crimes Tribunal (ICT) given to her final yr to her for ordering the usage of deadly power whereas cracking down on the protests in August 2024.
“Bangladesh is deeply aggrieved that whereas India is but to behave on her obligations at hand Sheikh Hasina over to Bangladesh beneath the bilateral extradition settlement regardless of repeated requests by the Bangladesh Authorities, she has as an alternative been allowed to make such inciteful pronouncements from its personal soil,” the Bangladeshi authorities acknowledged.
Permitting the occasion within the New Delhi and allowing what was described as “hate speech” Bangladeshi overseas ministry stated is “opposite to the norms of inter-state relations, together with respect for sovereignty, non-interference and good neighbourliness, and constituted a transparent affront to the individuals and the Authorities of Bangladesh.”
“It units a harmful precedent vis-a-vis the way forward for Bangladesh-India relations and will severely impair the power of the long run elected polity in Bangladesh to have interaction, form and nurture mutually helpful bilateral relations,” stated the assertion.
It additional stated the incitements by the Awami League management demonstrated why the Interim Authorities had banned the social gathering’s actions
“Bangladesh would maintain this outfit answerable for committing incidents of violence and terror within the run as much as the elections and on the election day, and can take acceptable actions to foil its evil conspiracies,” stated the assertion.
What Hasina stated in first public handle from India
In her first public handle to a gathering in India since fleeing Dhaka, the Awami League chief targeted a lot of her criticism on Yunus, accusing him of failing to cease what she termed a “monstrous onslaught of extremist communal forces and overseas perpetrators”.
She stated, “The murderous fascist Yunus, a usurer, a cash launderer, a plunderer, and a corrupt, power-hungry traitor, has bled our nation dry along with his all-consuming paradigms, staining the soul of our motherland.”
She alleged that Bangladesh had been “plunged into an age of terror” after “Yunus and his anti-state militant accomplices” eliminated her authorities by a “meticulously engineered conspiracy” in August 2024, although she provided no proof to help the declare.
“Democracy is now in exile. Human rights have been trampled into the mud. Freedom of the press has been extinguished. Violence, torture, and sexual assault in opposition to ladies and ladies stay unchecked,” she stated. “Spiritual minorities face steady persecution. Legislation and order have collapsed,” she added.
She additionally stated Bangladesh ought to urge the United Nations to conduct a “really neutral investigation” into the occasions of the previous yr and urged the individuals to rise unitedly to “restore” the structure and defend the spiritual minorities.
Hasina’s message in a pre-recorded audio clip was performed out at an occasion in New Delhi, and it got here a day after campaigning for the February 12 parliamentary elections started in Bangladesh. The Awami League social gathering has been barred from contesting the polls.
