Former Bangladesh minister Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury on December 19, Friday alleged that the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus is deliberately instigating violence in Bangladesh to delay the upcoming elections. Speaking to ANI, Chowdhury claimed that the attack on India’s Deputy High Commissioner’s residence was “pre-planned and state-sponsored” to instigate India.
Violence erupted across Bangladesh following the death of student leader Sharif Osman Hadin, with overnight protests in Dhaka escalating into arson and attacks on media houses. “Sharif Osman Hadin was a firebrand fanatic who openly called for blood. According to information available in the media, he was gunned down by someone close to him, a member of his own armed group”, Chowdhury, who served as Education Minister under the Sheikh Hasina government, said.
He alleged that the Yunus regime used Hadin’s death as a pretext to mobilise extremist elements and sympathetic political groups to engineer nationwide unrest. “The primary objective is to delay the elections they themselves keep talking about. The second objective is to eliminate grassroots political workers who are still active inside the country”, he added. The unrest also took on a strong anti-India dimension, with protesters surrounding the residence of India’s deputy ambassador in Dhaka.
Chowdhury claimed that foreign missions were deliberately targeted to internationalise the crisis. “They attacked foreign missions, including the Indian High Commission in my home city of Chittagong, to provoke a reaction from India, Bangladesh’s long-standing friend and strategic partner”, he said. The former Bangladesh minister further accused members of the interim government of openly inciting violence instead of restoring law and order. “Instead of investigating the incident or deploying security personnel, members of the Yunus cabinet themselves called for blood”, he alleged.
Referring to a former minister of the interim cabinet, Chowdhury said, “Although he has submitted his resignation, he continues to enjoy government protocol. He publicly spoke about dead bodies and even said they would become martyrs if needed”. Protesters also targeted major media houses in Dhaka, storming and setting fire to buildings housing two of the country’s leading newspapers, The Daily Star and Prothom Alo.
Chowdhury claimed that attacks on media houses, including those perceived to have earlier supported these groups, were part of the same pattern. “If anyone says this violence was spontaneous, it clearly was not. For days, there was no public reaction, but once ministers began calling for blood, the extremist crowd responded accordingly”, he said.
(With Inputs from ANI)
