Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina - now in India - sharpened her attack against the head of the interim government, Muhammad Yunus, and said he is selling off the country to the US.
"Yunus has seized power with the help of terrorists," she said.
The fresh attack comes as protests hit the country again after reports said Yunus threatened to resign following the Army's call for elections in December.
Political crisis in Bangladesh has deepened. In the past 48 hours, the caretaker government's several attempts to improve ties with the army did not yield expected results.
The beleaguered Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus is now set to meet eight political parties on Sunday. He is trying to use the resignation threat as a card and is not against public protest to take on the mighty army. The growing perception that Yunus is working as a stooge of foreign power has not gone down well with the common people and political activists.
In the meantime, former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has blasted the Yunus regime.
"When America wanted St. Martin's Island, my father did not agree. He had to give his life. And that was my destiny. Because I never had the thought of selling the country to stay in power.
And the country that the people of this country responded to the call of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, took up arms and fought and gave their lives to free three million people.
It cannot be anyone's intention to give up even an inch of that country's soil to anyone.
But what a misfortune it is today. Such a person (Muhammad Yunus) came to power, a person who is absolutely loved by the people of the whole country, a person who is loved by the world, and what happened to that person today when he came to power?"
(This is an attack for Yunus being allegedly US-friendly.)
Army no longer wants to be caught in the crossfire. Army is deployed since July 2024 and though police have taken charge in some areas lately still, army's services are being enlisted to maintain law and order.
“The army is meant for defending the nation, not for policing … We must return to barracks after elections,” Gen Waker Zaman reportedly told his officers in a closed door meeting.
Officers from across Bangladesh and at Bangladeshi UN missions reportedly joined the event, both physically and virtually, in full combat uniform – a show of unity and resolve.
The Army chief has made it clear that the dispensation headed by Yunus is only a temporary affair.
“Only a political government elected by the people can make key decisions,” he said.
Gen Waker is strongly opposed to key initiatives being considered by the interim government. On a proposed humanitarian corridor into Myanmar’s Rakhine State, he reportedly said: “There will be no corridor. The sovereignty of Bangladesh is not negotiable.” He also called it a bloody corridor.
He warned that any such move could drag Bangladesh into a dangerous proxy conflict.
The so-called meeting on Saturday, May 24th, between caretaker head Muhammad Yunus and two key political parties BNP of former Prime Minister Khaleeda Zia and Jamait-i-Islami was a damp squib.
Even as the meeting did not reach any conclusion; hurriedly announcement was made by the Yunus camp that he would not step down.
The Rakhine Corridor is something the US deep state wants from the times of Joe Biden and Yunus regime's initial indication that it will be allowed has fetched him criticism.
At certain places, protesters even took out placards reading - 'Step Down Yunus'.
The Yunus regime is not keen to give up power by December.
On Thursday, the BNP held a news conference demanding an election by the end of the year.
It has also demanded resignation of two student advisers and the national security adviser. The party warned that without these steps, continued cooperation with the Yunus-led administration would become untenable.
BNP has demanded the removal of National Security Advisor Khalilur Rahman, along with advisors Asif and Mahfuz.
In her statement through social media, Sheikh Hasina further alleged that Yunush is running the government with the help of militants.
"He has seized power with the help of terrorists, with the help of terrorists, all the terrorists, even those who are banned in various international arenas, from whom we protected the people of Bangladesh.
After only one terrorist attack, we took strict measures. Many were arrested. Now prisons are empty. They released everyone. Now Bangladesh is the reign of those militants," she said.
She also called out the ban on her party Awami League and termed it illegal.
"The constitution of our great Bengali nation, we got it through a long struggle and through the liberation war. Who gave this militant leader, who has illegally seized power the right to touch the constitution?
He does not have the mandate of the people, has no constitutional basis. That position (Chief Advisor) also has no basis, and it does not exist. So how can he change the law without a parliament, this is illegal. They have banned the Awami League," Hasina added.
ends
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