Sheikh Hasina vows to return, punish those targeting her supporters

Claiming that Allah has kept her alive “for a reason”, former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has vowed to return to her country one day and punish all those targeting her supporters now.

She took the pledge while interacting online with family members of her Awami League leaders who have been attacked or killed by those allied with the interim government in Dhaka.

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“Our leaders and workers are being killed in a way that cannot be described. Awami League, cops, lawyers, journalists, artists, everyone is being targeted,” the 77-year-old said in Bengali.

Gagging the media

Hasina alleged that a media clampdown in Bangladesh prevented newspapers and the electronic media from reporting the mayhem now gripping the country.

“Rapes, murders, robberies, nothing can be reported. And if it is reported, the TV channel or newspaper will be targeted,” she said from a secure place in India.

Hasina flew to India seeking protection just before mobs allied with Islamists overran her residence in a mob fury which left hundreds of people dead on the streets.

Hasina targets Yunus

Bangladesh has been asking India to extradite her, saying she needs to face justice for various crimes.

Hasina targeted Muhammad Yunus, the chief advisor of the interim government in Bangladesh, describing him as “someone who never loved the people”.

“He loaned out small amounts at high interest rates and used the money to live lavishly abroad. We could not understand his duplicity then, so we helped him a lot,” she said.

Recalls family massacre

“But people did not benefit. He did well for himself. Then developed a lust for power that is burning Bangladesh now,” she said.

This way, she said, Bangladesh, once seen as a model of development, has now turned into a “terrorist country”.

Recounting the horrific killings of her entire family in 1975, including her father and Bangladesh founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, she said: “I lost my father, mother, and brother, everyone in one day. And then they did not let us return to the country.”

Vows to punish killers

“I know the pain of losing your own. Allah keeps protecting me, maybe he wants to get some good done through me. Those who have committed these crimes must be punished. This is my pledge,” she said.

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During the interaction, family members of murdered Awami League workers and leaders recounted the atrocities against them.

“They will face justice,” Hasina said, referring to the killers. “Allah will not tolerate this.”

To a woman who narrated how her father was killed, Hasina replied: “You will do justice the way I did justice after my parents were killed. We will find them… The day will come. I believe this or I would not be alive.”