Yunus is playing with fire, destroying B’desh: Hasina to supporters

Ousted Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has accused interim head Muhammad Yunus of destroying the country for his “hunger for power” and warned that if he played with fire, “it will burn you too”.

The remarks come on the back of a Bangladesh court issuing arrest warrants against Hasina, her sister Sheikh Rehana, British MP Tulip Rizwana Siddiq and 50 others over alleged illegal land acquisition.

In her address to the Awami League supporters on the social media, the former Bangladesh premier said: “All signs of Bangladesh’s freedom movement are being removed. Mukti joddhas (freedom fighters) are being insulted. We had built mukti joddha complexes in all districts to keep their memory alive, but those are being burnt down. Will Yunus be able to justify this?”

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Jamaat-e-Islami are carrying out (political) murders and harassing her party leaders, she alleged.

The ousted PM, who has taken refuge in India following her ouster on August 5, 2024, amid unprecedented student protests over reservation, said the end of Awami League’s regime had given an “industrial shock” to the country.

“Thousands of factories have been shut. Those linked to Awami League leaders have been burnt down. Industries are being finished. Hotels, hospitals, everything is being destroyed,” she said.

“Awami League leaders are being framed for the death of vandals. Those who burnt down police stations and beat cops to death are not being charged. Cases are being filed against Awami League leaders. Our leaders are not able to stay at home, everything has been destroyed,” she added. “How will this country run if the law enforcement personnel are being murdered in public? Doesn’t Yunus understand this? Or is he guiding the country to doomsday? Yunus is destroying our country out of hunger for power,” she alleged.

In her speech, Hasina referred to Abu Sayeed, a student activist who died during last year’s student protests. There had been conflicting reports over his death with a fact-finding report by the United Nations saying he was a victim of a “deliberate extra-judicial killing” by the police.

Hasina said: “Abu Sayeed was hit by a rubber bullet. The police didn’t use metal bullets. A rock smashed his head when they were throwing stones at the police. Even the police had the right to defend themselves when attacked. But where did the 7.62 mm bullet come from? Who brought that rifle to the protest?”

“Exhume Sayeed’s body and conduct a forensic examination. It will prove that all the murders were part of a conspiracy. I didn’t kill them, neither did Awami League nor the police. The police rather were victims,” she added.