DEBDUTTA CHAKRABORTY
New Delhi: Former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina, currently in exile in India, Monday held a one-on-one interaction on Zoom with widows of four policemen killed during last July’s student uprising, commiserating on their tragic loss and promising redressal upon her return.
She told them that “mobster” Muhammad Yunus—the head of the interim government after her ouster—and all those who caused these killings would be brought to justice “on Bangla soil”.
“Allah has kept me alive for this sole purpose. I will return and ensure justice for all of you,” she said in her address.
The four police officers were killed when Hasina tried to suppress the student-led movement in July-August last year, which began as protests against a controversial quota system but soon culminated in a call for her ouster.
Nearly 450 police stations were also set on fire, Hasina said Monday. Her teary appeal stressed the killings were part of a larger conspiracy orchestrated by Yunus, who has since accepted there was a “design and conspiracy” to remove Hasina.
“The killings were part of his meticulous conspiracy to throw me out of power,” she said.
Hasina revealed key details about the investigation, including the discovery that the bullets used to kill the officers were 0.75 mm in caliber, which was not typically used by the police, or any other force involved.
She also said that the investigation into these police killings had been halted, despite mounting evidence of foul play. The former prime minister further described the burning of her house as part of this calculated scheme, aimed at dismantling her leadership.
Six months after the incident, Hasina expressed concern over Yunus’s inability to control mob justice and questioned the legitimacy of his power. Addressing the widows, she assured them, “I will look after you once I return.”
The widows, including Jasmine Sultana whose husband was killed in Uttara, shared their grievances. Sultana voiced her frustration, saying, “No one came to even ask us our whereabouts. We were given no compensation.”
Hasina vowed to hold the current government accountable, noting that the victims’ families are yet to receive any compensation. She stressed, “My heart goes out to these women. Their families are destroyed, and nothing has been done for them.” She concluded by calling for a revolt against the current interim regime.
“This government that usurped power has to go and the people have to ensure that. Human rights violations under him (Yunus) have been unprecedented and we have to ensure the people put him out of power.”
In her previous speeches—floated virtually on social media—Hasina had reflected on her family’s role in the 1971 Liberation War, the alleged assassination attempts against her, and emphasised the importance of educating Bangladesh’s youth about their history.
She had further argued that the interim government had effectively silenced the Opposition, with “all Awami League MPs, human rights organisations and other dissenters” reportedly being “handcuffed” by the current political set-up.
After the speech, where she had said that the interim government was behind the mob violence and burning of Bangladesh’s founder and her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s house last month, Bangladesh had called on India to prevent Hasina from continuing her political activities while in exile, saying that her speeches were only fuelling more unrest.
“We hope that India will not allow its territory to be used for activities that create instability in Bangladesh. The government does not want such incidents to happen again,” a statement read.
Protests escalated in Dhaka last month after Hasina delivered her second virtual speech from India, addressing the ongoing political crisis in Bangladesh. A large group of protesters stormed the Dhanmondi residence of Sheikh Mujibur, vandalising the building and setting it on fire, besides targetting other properties associated with her party, the Awami League.
Meanwhile, a United Nations fact-finding report released earlier this month revealed that the Hasina-led party was directly responsible for widespread human rights abuse during the 2024 protests.
The 100-page report, titled “Human Rights Violations and Abuses related to the Protests of July and August 2024 in Bangladesh”, published by the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), added that Hasina’s government, with senior officials’ full knowledge, orchestrated a brutal response to the protests, using live ammunition and excessive force.
source : theprint