Ousted Bangladesh PM Demands Probe Into Deaths During Uprising
(Bloomberg) -- Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina called for a probe into the deaths associated with a student-led uprising, officially speaking for the first time since she was ousted from power more than a week ago.
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In a statement posted on social media by her son Sajeeb Wazed, Hasina said those involved in the killings and vandalism should be investigated and the culprits punished. The 76-year-old politician has since fled to India after the Bangladesh army chief announced her resignation and said he would install an interim government.
Hasina, who ruled Bangladesh for 15 years with an iron first, faces a murder investigation along with former government officials for their role in suppressing the uprising. More than 400 people were killed in the unrest and Hasina said in the statement that those deaths were the result of terrorist attacks.
“My condolences to those who are living like me with the pain of losing loved ones,” Hasina said in the statement issued late Tuesday, a day before the anniversary of a 1975 military coup that killed most of her family members, including her father and independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
The house in the capital Dhaka where Hasina’s family was killed had been rebuilt into a memorial. A mob set the museum ablaze soon after Hasina’s government collapsed. “The memory that was the mainstay of our survival has been burnt to ashes,” she said.
Around Dhaka, statues of Hasina’s father were vandalized. There were among the most visible signs of public anger against Hasina, who turned Bangladesh into an economic success but turned increasingly authoritarian.
The interim government led by Nobel Prize-winning economist Muhammad Yunus canceled the public holiday for Aug. 15 that was long designated as a national day of mourning. Hasina called on Bangladeshis to offer garlands and prayers at the site where the memorial stood.
“They insulted the blood of millions of martyrs,” she said of the vandals who burnt down the memorial. “I want justice from my countrymen.”
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