The woes keep piling up for Bangladesh’s Muhammad Yunus. The ex-premier, Sheikh Hasina, unleashed a caustic attack on the Nobel winner, accusing him of being a ‘militant leader, selling out the nation to the US’. She also referred to St Martin’s Island. Here’s why this small atoll is so important to the nation
The political unrest in Bangladesh is deepening further. Four days have passed since Bangladesh interim government leader Muhammad Yunus showed that he wanted to resign, and now comes the new headache in the name of Sheikh Hasina.
The deposed leader blamed the Nobel winner for “selling the country to America” and charged that Yunus had seized power with the support of extremist organizations. Hasina even invoked the spirit of her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh’s founding leader, to say that he was assassinated for refusing to give up St Martin’s Island to the US.
This is the second reference to this tiny island in the northeastern part of the Bay of Bengal during the Bangladesh political crisis — previously, a newspaper had published a report stating that Hasina had stated that she could have gone on to stay in power had she given Bangladesh’s “St Martin’s Island and Bay of Bengal to America.
Yesterday (Sunday, May 25), ex-Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina made a scathing criticism of interim government leader Muhammad Yunus, saying that he “sold the country out” to the United States and usurped power in collaboration with militants.
In a Facebook entry, Hasina referred to her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and stated that he was killed because he would not yield St Martin’s Island to the United States. She blamed Yunus for doing just what her family opposed. “When America desired St Martin’s Island, my father would not accept. He had to sacrifice his life. And that was my fate. Because I never thought about selling the nation to remain in office,” Hasina penned.
