Deposed PM accuses interim govt chief of unleashing terror on Bangladesh

Sheikh Hasina, the former prime minister, has blamed Muhammad Yunus, the leader of Bangladesh’s interim administration, for the “lawlessness” in the nation and said he had “unleashed terrorists” on its citizens.

When Hasina left Bangladesh for India on August 5, 2024, a student rebellion overthrew the 16-year-old Awami League government.

“He (Yunus) dissolved all inquiry committees and unleashed terrorists to butcher people. They are destroying Bangladesh,” Hasina said during a virtual interaction with widows and children of slain police officers killed during the July-August violent anti-government protests in 2024.

During the conversations, which appeared on social media on Tuesday, Hasina is seen consoling the mourning family members saying she was expecting to return home and avenge the killings.

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“I will return and avenge the deaths of our policemen,” she said and added that when her government was toppled, she too narrowly escaped death, by the grace of God,” who definitely kept her alive “to do something good.” “Yunus has no experience in running a government,” the deposed prime minister said adding, “We need to put an end to this lawlessness.” The virtual conversation, via Zoom, was moderated by the party’s Europe Chapter Nazrul Islam.

Hasina had charged Yunus of launching “a long, and well-designed plot to oust her government and grab the state power” in previous social media appearances. About 1,400 people were killed in the turmoil, according to a report published last week by the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) titled “Human Rights Violations and Abuses related to the Protests of July and August 2024 in Bangladesh.”

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The study covers the period from July 1 to August 15, when students who were demonstrating for Hasina’s removal staged violent protests and attacked minorities, especially Hindus, and supporters of the Awami League.

It also documents that Hasina’s Awami League government had cracked down on protesters and others resulting in “hundreds of extrajudicial killings.” Also, at least 44 policemen, including officers, were killed during the unrest, said the police headquarters, now largely restructured under the interim government.

In the run up to and after the fall of Awami League regime, 450 out of the country’s 639 police stations were destroyed or damaged in mob attacks, the UN report said.

“After Sheikh Hasina left the country on August 5 last year, revenge violence surged,” the OHCHR report said, adding that violent mobs stormed and burned down numerous police stations.

In many cases, the UN rights office said, police officers fled or were allowed to leave by their superiors and in other cases some officers were lynched or otherwise killed.