Dhaka/New Delhi: Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has sharply criticised the current unrest and violence gripping Bangladesh, saying such turmoil and anti-India sentiment have “become the norm” under the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus. Hasina’s remarks came in an email interview with the news agency ANI as the country continues to reel from protests and violent incidents across major cities.
Hasina, who was ousted from power last year amidst nationwide protests, said that the recent killing of political activist Sharif Osman Hadi and the subsequent unrest reflect a growing pattern of lawlessness that the interim administration is either unwilling or unable to control.
“This hostility is being manufactured by extremists who the Yunus regime has emboldened. These are the same actors who marched on the Indian embassy and attacked our media offices, who attack minorities with impunity, and who forced my family and me to flee for our lives. Yunus has placed such figures in positions of power and released convicted terrorists from prison,” Hasina told ANI in an interview.
“India’s concerns about the safety of its personnel are justified, I am sorry to say. A responsible government would protect diplomatic missions and prosecute those who threaten them. Instead, Yunus grants immunity to hooligans and calls them warriors,” she added.
“I share this concern, as do the millions of Bangladeshis who prefer the safe, secular state we once were. Yunus has placed extremists in cabinet positions, released convicted terrorists from prison, and allowed groups linked to international terrorist organisations to take roles in public life. He is not a politician and has no experience governing a complex nation. My fear is that radicals are using him to project an acceptable face to the international community while they systematically radicalise our institutions from within,” she said in the interview, as quoted by NDTV.
She also accused the interim government of failing to protect religious minorities and undermining the secular foundations of the state.
The former prime minister also emphasised the need for return to democratic norms, underscoring that only through legitimate governance can violence be curbed and normalcy restored.
Osman Hadi, a prominent figure associated with the mass movement that contributed to Hasina’s removal, was shot at close range while riding in a rickshaw in Dhaka’s Bijoynagar area on December 12. He was later flown to Singapore for treatment but succumbed to his injuries on December 18, triggering fresh demonstrations and anger among supporters.
