Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Bangladesh launched a blistering attack on Wednesday after former prime minister Sheikh Hasina made her first public appearance from New Delhi since fleeing the country. Dhaka accused New Delhi of allowing its soil to be used to undermine Bangladesh’s sovereignty. Calling the event “an affront to the sovereignty of Bangladesh”, it said India’s decision to permit Hasina’s live media interaction had hurt bilateral ties and insulted the martyrs of the 2024 July Revolution.
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In a strongly worded statement, Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was “outraged” that Hasina had been allowed to participate in a live interaction with the media from the Indian capital, where she allegedly launched “venomous vitriol” against Bangladesh and its people.
The statement marked Dhaka’s toughest response yet to Hasina’s appearance, which came on the second anniversary of the July Revolution that forced her from office in 2024. Earlier in the day, Hasina used the event to reject the official account of the uprising, describing it as a “planned regime change” rather than a peaceful student-led movement. She also vowed to return to Bangladesh in December despite facing multiple criminal cases and a death sentence handed down in absentia.
DHAKA SAYS INDIA IGNORED ITS CONCERNS
Bangladesh said it had conveyed its concerns to New Delhi before the event and warned about the possible impact on bilateral ties.
“Dhaka deeply regrets that in spite of concerns conveyed apriori to the Government of India about the likely ramifications of this event on the reset of our bilateral relations, this public event was permitted to be held,” the foreign ministry said.
Calling the event highly provocative, the ministry added that allowing Hasina to address the media from Indian soil on the anniversary of the July Revolution amounted to “an affront to the sovereignty of Bangladesh and a grievous insult to the martyrs of the July Revolution”.
India had distanced itself from the programme even before it was held. The Ministry of External Affairs said the event was organised by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of South Asia, a private entity, and that the government had no role in hosting or facilitating it. New Delhi also made it clear that it did not endorse any views expressed during the event.
SHARP ATTACK ON HASINA
The Bangladeshi government accused Hasina of attempting to rewrite the events surrounding the 2024 uprising.
“The denial of facts established by the United Nations, including gruesome killing of the innocent civilians including minor children during July-August 2024 by the fascist regime, stands as a futile attempt by the absconding convicted mass murderer Hasina and her criminal cohort to reverse the tide of history,” the statement said.
It further asserted that Bangladesh had “firmly resolved” never to return to what it described as the “dark days of fascism”, adding that “Convicted mass murderer Hasina and her mafia enterprise will never have a place in the polity of Bangladesh.”
DHAKA RENEWS SHEIKH HASINA EXTRADITION DEMAND
Dhaka also renewed its demand for Hasina’s extradition under the 2013 India-Bangladesh Extradition Treaty. The foreign ministry said Bangladesh’s repeated requests for India to return Hasina had “not yet elicited a response”.
“Allowing her the opportunity to openly interact with the media under any pretext is deeply hurtful to our people’s sentiment and detrimental to the development of harmonious bilateral relations between Bangladesh and India,” it added.
Bangladesh maintained that it wanted to preserve a “constructive, mutually beneficial, and forward-looking relationship” with India based on “sovereign equality, mutual respect, non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, and national dignity”.
The event was held at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of South Asia in New Delhi. It marked Hasina’s first public address since fleeing Bangladesh in August 2024 after the student-led uprising ended her 15-year rule. Although she had been expected to appear on video, the 78-year-old joined the programme virtually through an audio link. Her address focused largely on the political turmoil that led to her removal from office, the cases against her and the future of the Awami League. She also rejected the official account of the 2024 uprising, alleging it was a “planned regime change” rather than a peaceful student movement.
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
