Bangladesh’s interim head Muhammed Yunus has said that ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina has to “keep quiet” while she stays in India to avoid complicating matters further.
Speaking to PTI, Yunus, who was appointed the chief advisor of Bangladesh after Hasina’s unceremonious exit from the country, said that the former PM’s political remarks from India are an “unfriendly gesture”.It is not good for us or for India. There is discomfort regarding it,” he said, adding that she must remain silent.
“If India wants to keep her until the time Bangladesh (government) wants her back, the condition would be that she has to keep quiet,” he said.The Nobel laureate objected to Hasina giving instructions from India.
“No one is comfortable with her stance there in India because we want her back to try her. She is there in India and at times she is talking, which is problematic. Had she been quiet, we would have forgotten it; people would have also forgotten it as she would have been in her own world. But sitting in India, she is speaking and giving instructions. No one likes it,” he said.
Hasina quit as the prime minister of Bangladesh and fled to India after weeks of protests against her decision to grant quotas to families of war veterans.
When asked whether Bangladesh has communicated its stance to India, Yunus said it has been conveyed verbally and quite firmly that she should keep quiet.
“Everyone understands it. We have said quite firmly that she should keep quiet. This is an unfriendly gesture towards us; she has been given shelter there and she is campaigning from there. It is not that she has gone there on a normal course. She has fled following a people’s uprising and public anger,” he said.
‘Hasina has to be brought back, tried’
He added that Hasina must be brought back to the country and stand trial.
“Yes, she has to be brought back or else the people of Bangladesh won’t be at peace. The kind of atrocities she has committed, she has to be tried in front of everyone here,” he emphasised.
Yunus also criticised India’s closeness with Hasina, suggesting that New Delhi has been captivated by a certain narrative surrounding her.“The way forward is for India to come out of the narrative. The narrative is that everybody is Islamist, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is Islamist, and everyone else is Islamist and will make this country into Afghanistan. And Bangladesh is in safe hands with Sheikh Hasina at the helm only. India is captivated by this narrative. India has to come out of this narrative. Bangladesh, like any other nation, is another neighbour,” he said.
Referring to the recent incidents of alleged attacks on Hindu minorities in the country and India raising concerns about it, Yunus said this is just an excuse.
“The issue of trying to portray the conditions of minorities in such a big way is just an excuse,” he said.
Historically, India has shared good ties with Bangladesh when Hasina was at the helm. However, ties between the two neighbours plunged when BNP, a party led by Hasina’s rival Khaleda Zia, came to power in the country.
(With inputs from PTI)
