Protesters in Dhaka climbed atop a large statue of 1971 independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who was killed in a military coup four years later in 1975, and began hitting at the head with an axe, just as his daughter Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country, escaping the possible fate of her father.

Bangladesh has been engulfed by protests and violence that began last month after student groups demanded the scrapping of a controversial quota system in government jobs. That escalated into a campaign to seek the ouster of Hasina, who won a fourth straight term in January in an election boycotted by the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which later called the elections a sham. However, foreign observers, including those from the US, Canada, Russia, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and the Arab Parliament, have termed the just-concluded general elections in Bangladesh as free, fair, and peaceful. But a US state department official said the elections were not free or fair.

Bangladesh Army has announced it will form an interim government.

Many will see a US hand behind the coup as Hasina had troubled relations with the US for the past few years. Just two months ago, after she had returned to power, Hasina made shocking claims that a White country was hatching a conspiracy against her.

Months after winning elections and securing a fifth straight term for her government, Hasina claimed in May that she was offered a hassle-free re-election in the January 7 polls if she allowed a foreign country to build an air base inside the country. “If I allowed a certain country to build an air base in Bangladesh, then I would have had no problem,” Daily Star Bangladesh had quoted Hasina as saying.

She, however, did not name the country that had made the offer to her but emphasised that the “offer came from a White man”. “It may appear that it is aimed at only one country, but it is not. I know where else they intend to go,” she said, adding that this is why her Awami League party-led govt is always in trouble. “There will be more trouble. But don’t worry about it,” she said.

When asked about her response to the offer, the PM said she made the same reply as she did in 2001 when the US offered to sell the country’s gas to India. “I’ve clearly said that I’m the daughter of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. . . we won our Liberation War, I don’t want to come to power by renting part of the country or handing it over to some other country and I don’t need power,” she said. The premier said she would only stay in office if the people wanted.

Hasina said she was fighting a battle everywhere, both at home and abroad, and the “conspiracies are still on” to carve a new country out of Bangladesh. “Like East Timor…they will carve out a Christian country, taking parts of Bangladesh (Chattogram) and Myanmar with a base in the Bay of Bengal,” Hasina said without giving details. She said conspiracies were being hatched to topple her govt and that she might have to face the same consequences her father…, Daily Star had reported.

Hasina’s troubled relations with the US

Many thought Hasina was talking of the US because she has had troubled relations with it for quite some time. The US, the biggest buyer of Bangladesh’s exports, had become more vocal in its calls for a free and fair election, imposing visa curbs on members of Hasina’s ruling party and law enforcement officials in September.

“The US applied so much pressure on Bangladesh for free and fair elections, through both carrots and sticks, and for so long, yet to no avail,” Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Washington-based Wilson Centre, had told Bloomberg in January. “Consequently, there is a possibility that the administration could respond post-election with harsher steps.” Those measures could be “punitive actions in the space that would hurt Bangladesh the most,” which is trade, he added.

Two months ago, the US imposed sanctions on a former Bangladesh army chief, General (Retd) Aziz Ahmed, over his alleged involvement in corruption, claiming his actions have contributed to the undermining of country’s democratic institutions and the people’s faith in public institutions and processes.

Last year in November, there were reports in Dhaka that politicians from the ruling party allegedly threatened the US Ambassador Peter Haas regarding his perceived interference in the elections. However, the State Minister denied these allegations, asserting confidence in the country’s ability to provide adequate security for foreign guests like the ambassador.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson had claimed that US ambassador to Bangladesh and a high-ranking representative of the local opposition discussed plans to organise mass anti-government protests in the country during the meeting. The spokesperson said the action of the US ambassador to Bangladesh could be seen as nothing less than gross interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state on the part of “Washington and its satellites”. Washington accused Moscow of making ” deliberate mischaracterisation” of its foreign policy. (ET)

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Former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, currently residing in India, has leveled accusations against the United States, alleging their involvement in her removal from power.

“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 the premiership. 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’,” Hasina said in a message, the Economic Times quoted her as saying.

Saint Martin Island, a small landmass measuring only 3 square kilometers, is situated in the northeastern region of the Bay of Bengal, approximately 9 kilometers south of the Cox’s Bazar-Teknaf peninsula’s tip, constituting the southernmost point of Bangladesh.

In her message, Hasina urged Bangladeshi citizens to resist manipulation by radical elements.

Hasina expressed her deep sorrow over the killings of leaders, harassment of workers, and acts of vandalism, stating, “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. 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. The country for which my father and family gave their lives.”

Bangladesh is currently grappling with political unrest following Hasina’s resignation on August 5, which occurred amidst escalating student protests demanding the removal of the controversial quota system for government jobs. Concerns for Hasina’s safety intensified due to the widespread turmoil, prompting her departure from Dhaka last week on a military aircraft. She is currently seeking refuge at an undisclosed location in India, where she remains under protection.

Addressing the quota movement and student protests, Hasina clarified, “I would like to repeat to the young students of Bangladesh. I have never called you Razakars. Rather My words were distorted to incite you. I request you to watch the full video of that day. Conspirators have taken advantage of innocence and used you to destabilise the nation.”

Previously, Hasina had also accused the US of attempting to orchestrate a regime change in Bangladesh during a parliamentary session. Her son, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, suggested that the recent protests in Bangladesh were likely instigated by a foreign intelligence agency, although he refrained from explicitly naming the US.

He stated, “I now firmly believe this was instigated by a small group and most likely by a foreign intelligence agency. I strongly suspect the ISI. There was no reason for the protests to continue because the quotas were not mandated by our government and were restored by a court ruling. Our government had lifted the quotas in 2018 or so when the first quota protests happened.”

The United States government has consistently voiced criticism of Dhaka’s human rights record and electoral processes. (TOI)

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The Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government is taking Bangladesh to extraordinary heights in terms of developmental parameters, reported Bangla Daily.

Owing to its remarkable story of poverty reduction and development under the Awami League government, Bangladesh is on track to graduate from the UN’s Least Developed Countries (LDC) list by 2026. Despite taking over the country in a poor state of affairs from the BNP-Jamaat alliance which had unleashed a reign of corruption, violence, religious extremism and militancy from 2001 to 2006, the Sheikh Hasina government has turned the tide and pushed Bangladesh towards development, economic growth, peace, stability, harmony and prosperity, reported Bangla Daily.

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Bangladesh also saw tremendous growth from USD 71.82 billion in 2006 to USD 416.26 billion in 2021, a 479.58 per cent increase.

Bangladesh, which was earlier considered an ‘international basket case’ because of its dependence on foreign aid and donations to survive in the post-liberation war era, is witnessing unprecedented growth under the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government.

The FDI inflows into Bangladesh also saw a sharp increase rising from USD 466.40 million in 2006 to USD 2.17 billion in 2021-22, reported Bangla Daily.

Within a short span of over 14 years, since Sheikh Hasina has been in power, Bangladesh has upgraded to a lower middle-income country from a low-income country.

When the BNP-Jamaat alliance left the government in 2006 after five years of misrule involving corruption, nepotism, plunder and radicalisation of the Bangladeshi society, the Gross National Income (GNI) per capita of Bangladesh was a mere USD 570.

As per the World Bank’s 2021 figures, Bangladesh’s GNI per capita stood at USD 2,570. This reflects an exponential growth of GNI per capita with a 351 per cent increase in a relatively short period of time, reported Bangla Daily.

With a 6.6 per cent average economic growth rate, Bangladesh has been able to pull millions of poor people out of poverty. As per the International Monetary Fund, Bangladesh is now the 43rd largest economy in the world in terms of nominal GDP, while it stands at the 32nd position in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP). Moreover, it is amongst the 10 fastest-growing economies globally.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) case studies corroborate the developmental measures taken by the Sheikh Hasina government.

From a drastic reduction in maternal mortality rate (MMR), children under five years of age mortality rate (U-5MR) and the infant mortality rate (IMR), to ensuring sanitation facilities for all, the government has been registering transformational development success stories. For instance, the MMR has come down to 173 per 100,000 live birt, reported Bangla Daily.

The government has made key policy and strategic interventions in the field of health and nutrition that has helped increase the life expectancy in Bangladesh, reaching 73.57 years in 2023 and being higher than there in other countries in the region.

Many community clinics have been established to serve the rural population. Apart from this, primary and secondary education is supported for all, with a special focus on children, resulting in greater retention of students in school, reductions in child marriage, maternal and neonatal mortality, and increased women’s empowerment.

In the field of education, the government is promoting universal and quality education for all. Towards this, the Sheikh Hasina government formulated the National Education Policy 2010 wherein the total allocation for education increased from USD 1.4 billion to over USD 6.5 billion.

Hasina’s Government has also taken measures such as enacting the Bangladesh Economic Zones Act, 2010, establishing economic zones in areas that can help develop export-orient industries and attract Foreign Direct Investments (FDI).

In terms of domestic industries also, apart from its well-established Ready-made garments (RMG) and textile industries, this government has made tremendous success in pharmaceutical production, reported Bangla Daily.

Moreover, the power and energy sector is also receiving concerted efforts on the part of the government with the power generation capacity of Bangladesh increasing from 4,942 MW in 2009 to 22,066 MW of installed electricity generation capacity in FY 2021-22.

Also, the construction of the Padma Bridge is a watershed moment. Padma Bridge, the fifth largest bridge in the world, has been constructed without the support of international donors, demonstrating the country’s economic strength and sustainability of financial and organizational growth.

In the field of telecommunication, the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government has been on a mission mode to build a digital Bangladesh and transform Bangladesh into a technologically advanced nation making full use of ICT developments, reported Bangla Daily.

These figures reflect the growth and development trajectory that Bangladesh is on since Sheikh Hasina controlled the reins of governance in the country. (ANI)

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