Ousted Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina, in her first public outreach after fleeing her country on August 5, has said that those linked with rioting, killings and destruction in Bangladesh need to be investigated, identified and suitably punished.
In a written address to the people of Bangladesh posted on social media platform X by her son Sajeeb Wazed on Tuesday, Hasina mourned the “students, teachers, policewomen, journalists, social workers, common people, leaders and workers of the Awami League, pedestrians and office workers” who had been killed by protesters since last month in the name of agitation.
In her message, written in Bangla, Hasina sought justice for the disrespect shown to her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh, whose statue was vandalised by protesters.
She urged people to continue to observe August 15, the day Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was assassinated in 1975, as National Mourning Day. There are reports that the interim government in Bangladesh, headed by Muhammad Yunus, may cancel the national holiday on August 15 this year.
The former Prime Minister, who has taken shelter for the time being in India and is reportedly in talks with countries in Europe and the Middle East for asylum, paid respect to her family members she lost when her father was assassinated. Those killed in the coup in 1975 included Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s sons and their wives, his brother’s family, close colleagues and associates.