Yunus ‘militant leader’, has sold off Bangladesh to US, says ousted PM

Calling Bangladesh interim government head Muhammad Yunus a “militant leader”, the country’s ousted former premier Sheikh Hasina on Sunday accused him of “selling off” the country to the United States.

Hasina’s criticism comes amid tension between Yunus and Bangladesh Army Chief Waker-uz-Zaman, who has warned the interim chief and asked him to hold elections by December.

In a Facebook post, Hasina invoked her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and said he lost his life because he refused to surrender St Martin’s Island to the United States. She accused Yunus of doing exactly what her family stood against. “When America wanted St Martin’s Island, my father did not agree. He had to give his life. And that was my destiny. Because I never had the thought of selling the country to stay in power,” Hasina said.

“But what a misfortune it is today. Such a person came to power, a person who is absolutely loved by the people of the whole country, a person who is loved by the world, and what happened to that person today when he came to power?,” she said.

Hasina further claimed Yunus was running the government with the help of banned militant outfits. “He has seized power with the help of terrorists...even those who are banned in various international arenas, from whom we protected the people of Bangladesh,” she said.

“Now prisons are empty. They released everyone. Now Bangladesh is the reign of those militants.”

She also condemned the ban on her party, the Awami League, and called it unconstitutional. “Who gave this militant leader, who has illegally seized power, the right to touch the constitution? He does not have the mandate of the people, and has no constitutional basis. That position (Chief Advisor) also has no basis, and it does not exist. So how can he change the law without a parliament?”

Yesterday, Sajeeb Wazed, Hasina’s son, also launched a sharp attack on Yunus, while calling him a “dictator” whose politics of vengeance. Wazed accused Yunus of being at the root of the current crisis in Bangladesh.

In a post on X, Wazed accused Yunus of enabling mob violence and targeting Awami League members, journalists, lawyers, retired judges and civil servants through false cases and intimidation. He said that from the very beginning, Yunus had been shielding perpetrators of unrest instead of upholding law and order.

Wazed further alleged that Yunus’s regime facilitated the rise of Islamist forces by releasing hundreds of convicted terrorists from jail.

Referring to the demolition of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s house on Dhanmondi Road 32, Wazed said an ISIS flag was raised over the rubble.

Eight charged with gross atrocities during July uprising

Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal on Sunday framed charges against a former police commissioner and seven other officers for their alleged atrocities during last year’s anti-government protests.

The protests had led to the ouster of then prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s regime. The tribunal for the first time took cognisance of a case filed over mass killings and atrocities committed during the July 2024 uprising.

A three-member Bench of the tribunal, headed by Justice M Golam Mortuza, accepted the charges submitted by the prosecution against Dhaka’s ex-police commissioner Habibur Rahman Habib and seven other policemen and set June 3 as the date for starting hearing in the case.

According to the charges, the then Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Habib, now at large, allegedly ordered subordinates to open fire on protesting crowds at the Chankharpul area in old Dhaka. Apart from Habib three other accused are on the run while four are in jail. The four accepted the charge.

(with PTI inputs)