A senior Awami League leader on Wednesday confirmed the return of Sheikh Hasina as the prime minister of Bangladesh. Rabbi Alam, who is also a close aide to Hasina, thanked India for providing a safe space for the ousted PM.
“Sheikh Hasina is coming back as the prime minister. The young generation has made a mistake, but that’s not their fault, they have been manipulated…,” he said speaking to ANI.
Dubbing the student uprising that toppled the Hasina regime last year as a “terrorist” one, he said, “Bangladesh is under attack and it needs to be addressed by the international community. A political uprising is fine, but that is not what has been going on in Bangladesh. This is a terrorist uprising…”
“Many of our leaders are sheltered here in India, and we are very thankful to the Indian government for providing the alignment. I also thank PM Narendra Modi for providing a safe travel passage for our Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. We are thankful to the people of India…,” he added.
Hasina fled Bangladesh last year and took refuge in India after the country witnessed violent clashes against the government over civil service hiring rules.
After Hasina’s ouster, Mohammed Yunus became the chief of the interim government, who has requested India for Hasina’s extradition. He had recently claimed that India had made “no official response” in return to the extradition requests. The ousted PM is also awaiting trials into crimes against humanity, he had said.
Calling upon Yunus to step down, Rabbi said, “We want to ask the Bangladesh advisor to step down and go back to where he came from… Sheikh Hasina is coming back as the prime minister. The young generation has made a mistake but that’s not their fault, they have been manipulated…”
Hasina has been accused of using security forces and police to abduct, torture, and kill hundreds of activists. However, she refutes these claims, insisting that she is being targeted for political persecution.
