Former Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina has accused the US of ousting her from power for not handling over of Saint Martin Island and said she resigned so that she did not have to see the procession of dead bodies.
She urged people not to be manipulated by radicals and said that the US wanted to come to power over the dead bodies, but she didn’t allow it.
“I 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,” Sheikh Hasina said in a message to The Economic Times.
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Sheikh Hasina said she could have remained in power had she surrendered the sovereignty over the Saint Martin Island in the Bay of Bengal to the US.
“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,” she added.
Saint Martin’s Island is a small island in the northeastern part of Bay of Bengal and located about 9 km south of the tip of the Cox’s Bazar-Tankaf pensinsula.
She further said if she remained in Bangladesh, more lives would have been lost and more resources would have been destroyed.
“If 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,” she said.
She said that her heart cries over the killings of many leaders of the Awami League and added that she would return to Bangladesh soon.
“My heart cries upon receiving news that many leaders have been killed, workers are being harassed and their homes are subjected to vandalism and arson. With the grace of almighty Allah I will return soon,” she said.
“Awami League has stood up again and again. I shall forever pray for the future of Bangladesh, the nation which my great father strived for,” she added.
Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country following widespread protests against her government over a controversial quota system in jobs. She flew to the Hindon air base, near Delhi, in a Bangladesh military aircraft on Monday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday extended best wishes to Yunus as he took the oath as the head of the interim government in Bangladesh, hoping for an early return to normalcy.
