New Delhi: Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina lamented on Friday that her country which won independence under her father Sheikh Mujibur Rehman was now “bleeding” and was “on edge of abyss”.
The ousted Hasina, who has been living in exile in Delhi since fleeing Dhaka in August 2024, said that Bangladesh has become “a vast prison, an execution ground, a valley of death”, ANI reported.
“Bangladesh stands today at the edge of an abyss, a nation battered and bleeding, navigating one of the most perilous chapters in its history. The homeland won through the supreme Liberation War under the leadership of the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, is now ravaged by the monstrous onslaught of extremist communal forces and foreign perpetrators. Our once serene and fertile land has been reduced to a wounded, blood-soaked landscape. In truth, the entire country has become a vast prison, an execution ground, a valley of death,” Hasina said in an online audio message, addressing an event in New Delhi.
Hasina, who was unseated in a mass student uprising, described interim government head Mohammed Yunus as a “usurer, money launderer, plunderer, and a corrupt, power-hungry traitor”.
“Everywhere one hears only the cries of people struggling to survive amid destruction. A desperate plea for life. Heart-rending screams for relief. The murderous fascist Yunus, a usurer, a money launderer, a plunderer, and a corrupt, power-hungry traitor, has bled our nation dry with his all-consuming paradigms, staining the soul of our motherland,” Hasina said.
Hasina went on to claim that she was thrown out of power by Yunus, a “murderous fascist”, and his “anti-state militant accomplices”.
“On August 5, 2024, in a meticulously engineered conspiracy, the national enemy, the murderous fascist Yunus, and his anti-state militant accomplices forcibly ousted me, though I am the people’s representative directly elected. From that day forward, the nation has been plunged into an age of terror, merciless, relentless, and suffocating. Democracy is now in exile,” Hasina added.
Hasina — who has been sentenced to death in Bangladesh for crimes against humanity during the 2024 student-led uprising — and her party Awami League have been barred from contesting the February 12 national elections.
“The country is facing lawlessness, insecurity, and persecution of minorities, with mob violence, looting, and extremism spreading nationwide. Institutions have weakened, justice has eroded, and fear dominates daily life amid allegations of betrayal of national interests. In this crisis, there is a call for unity to defend the Constitution, restore democracy, protect sovereignty, and resist what is described as an unelected and violent regime,” Hasina said.
