‘Had I surrendered Saint Martin Island…,’: US named in Sheikh Hasina’s undelivered speech

New Delhi: Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has revealed that she could have remained in power if she had “surrendered” the sovereignty of Saint
Martin Island and “allowed America to hold sway over the Bay of Bengal”, media reports said.

Disclosing the contents of her undelivered speech in India, where Hasina flew on August 5 amid violent protests in her country, the 76-year-old leader said that she resigned so that she does not have to see a “procession of dead bodies”.

These revelations are part of her undelivered speech, which she wanted to make but could not happen as protesters reached her residence and she was forced to flee the country.

The former prime minister said she is pained over her party Awami League being targeted but said she “will return to Bangladesh soon”.

She said that she would pray for the future of Bangladesh.

“I resigned so that I did not have to see the procession of dead bodies. They wanted to come to power over the dead bodies of students, but I did not allow it. I resigned from premiership. I could have remained in power if I had surrendered the sovereignty of Saint Martin Island and allowed America to hold sway over the Bay of Bengal. I beseech to the people of my land, please do not be manipulated by radicals,” her undelivered speech says.

The undelivered speech says, “If I had remained in the country, more lives would have been lost more resources would have been destroyed. I made the extremely difficult decision to exit. I became your leader because you chose me, you were my strength.”

In May, Hasina had claimed that “conspiracies” were being hatched to topple her government and alleged a “white man’s” plot to carve a new “Christian country” out of Bangladesh.

Hasina had claimed that if she allowed a certain country to build an airbase in Bangladesh, then she would have had no problem.

Bangladesh saw protests against job quotas that snowballed into a wider movement against the Bangladeshi leadership, forcing Sheikh Hasina to resign from the Prime Minister’s post.

Over 400 people lost their lives in the protests since mid-July.

After Hasina’s departure to India, Nobel laureate and microfinance pioneer Muhammad Yunus took over as the head of the interim government on Thursday and assured that the new regime would not only restore peace in the country but also ensure the protection of Hindus and other minorities.

Amid massive student protests demanding judiciary’s revamp, Bangladesh Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan and five other top judges were forced to resign on Saturday.

IANS