Sheikh Hasina Accuses Muhammed Yunus Of "Genocide" In Bangladesh
New Delhi, India: Sheikh Hasina, the ousted Bangladesh Prime Minister, has launched a stinging attack against the country’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus over alleged persecution of minorities. In her first appearance since fleeing the country, she accused Yunus of perpetrating “genocide” and failing to protect minorities including Hindus.
In a virtual address at an event in New York, she also claimed that there were plans to assassinate her and her sister Sheikh Rehana just like their father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Mujibur Rahman was assassinated in 1975.
It was her first public address after taking shelter in India following her resignation in August this year. She had to flee the country in the face of massive anti-government protests, started with student protests over government job quota.
“The armed protestors were directed towards Ganabhaban. If the security guards opened fire, many lives would have been lost. It was a matter of 25-30 minutes, and I was forced to leave. I told them [guards] not to fire no matter what happened”, she said referring to the storming of her official residence in Dhaka on August 5.
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“Today, I am being accused of genocide. In reality, Yunus has been involved in genocide in a meticulously designed manner. The masterminds — the student coordinators and Yunus — are behind this genocide,” she said at the event on Sunday.
Sheikh Hasina added that the current ruling dispensation in Dhaka failed to protect the minorities. “Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, no one has been spared. Eleven churches have been razed, temples and Buddhist shrines have been broken”. Referring to arrest of Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das, she said, “When the Hindus protested, the ISKCON leader was arrested”.
The former PM of Dhaka said she left the country with an aim to stop the violence, but could not achieve it. “When people were dying indiscriminately, I decided I should leave,” she said. “People no longer have the right to justice… I never even got the time to resign”, she added.
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Seeking asylum, the Awami Leagu leader has been staying in India after fleeing her country. Under the interim rule of Yunus, relationship between Dhaka and New Delhi deteriorated.India has been expressing concerns over attacks on minorities, especially Hindus, in that country.
During her speech at the event hosted to mark Bangladesh’s ‘Vijay Diwas’, Hasina also alleged that there was a plot to assassinate her.
Attacks against Hindu community in the country, and members of Hasina’s Awami League spiked. Last week, India said the interim government in Bangladesh must live up to its responsibility of protecting all minorities as it expressed serious concern over the “surge” of extremist rhetoric and increasing incidents of violence against Hindus.
