Bangladesh 'bleeding, on edge of abyss': Sheikh Hasina calls for ouster of Muhammad Yunus-led interim govt

Sheikh Hasina

Weeks ahead of the national elections in Bangladesh, the country’s ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that her country was “bleeding” and “on edge of abyss”, as she launched a sharp attack on the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government.

Addressing an event in Delhi through an audio message, Hasina, who has been residing in exile in the Indian capital since her government fell in August 2024, said that Bangladesh has become a “vast prison, an execution ground, a valley of death”.

Hasina, who was forced out amid a mass student uprising, targeted Bangladesh’s interim government chief adviser Mohammed Yunus with harsh criticism, branding him “a usurer, money launderer, plunderer, and a corrupt, power-hungry traitor.”

“Everywhere one hears only the cries of people struggling to survive amid destruction. A desperate plea for life. Heart-rending screams for relief. The murderous fascist Yunus, a usurer, a money launderer, a plunderer, and a corrupt, power-hungry traitor, has bled our nation dry with his all-consuming paradigms, staining the soul of our motherland," she said.

"On August 5, 2024, in a meticulously engineered conspiracy, the national enemy, the murderous fascist Yunus, and his anti-state militant accomplices forcibly ousted me, though I am the people's representative directly elected. From that day forward, the nation has been plunged into an age of terror, merciless, relentless, and suffocating. Democracy is now in exile,” ousted PM added.

She urged the people of Bangladesh to unite against what she called a “foreign-serving puppet regime” and appealed for the revival of democratic institutions.

"In this grave hour, the entire nation must rise united and galvanized by the spirit of our great Liberation War. To overthrow the foreign-serving puppet regime of this national enemy at any cost, the brave sons and daughters of Bangladesh must defend and restore the Constitution written in the blood of martyrs, reclaim our independence, safeguard our sovereignty, and revive our democracy," the Awami League supremo said.

Bangladesh is set to undergo parliamentary elections on February 12. Bangladesh Election Commission had in May last year suspended the registration of the Awami League as a party. The interim government has banned all activities by the Awami League.