Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was in the United Kingdom to attend the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. During this trip, she as interviewed by Laura Kunessberg, celebrated journalist of BBC. During the interview, Bangladesh Prime Minister has fondly recalled her personal memories for decades with Queen Elizabeth II stating “I feel for this world she was not only a queen, but also a very affectionate and motherly personality, whenever I met her, I felt that”.
Sheikh Hasina said, Her Majesty was a queen of the United Kingdom “but she is the leader of the Commonwealth also. As a member of the commonwealth, she has a great value to us”.
“Commonwealth means a lot for the member countries . . . there are many (Commonwealth) countries, developed countries, developing countries and poor countries, small island countries,” she said.
During the interview, Sheikh Hasina also touched Bangladesh’s domestic issues centering the January 2024 general election saying she herself struggled for establishing democratic process and ensuring free and fair election.
It may be mentioned here that, Bangladesh went under cruel dictatorship following the brutal assassination of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on August 15, 1975. Onwards, the country was under authoritarian rule – first under Khandaker Mushtaq Ahmed, one of the masterminds behind the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and then General Ziaur Rahman. During these years, a secularist Bangladesh was being pushed towards becoming an Islamist republic – a prototype of Pakistan. Under such dangerous situation, taking optimum risk of her own life, Sheikh Hasina returned to Bangladesh on May 17, 1981, after six years of exile defying different obstacles of the then government.
“I have returned to the country not to become a leader of the Awami League, rather to participate in the struggle for freedom by staying beside the people”, said the Awami League president in a heart touching reception accorded by nearly 1.5 million people at the airport at that time.
She added: “I want to stay beside you as your sister, as your daughter, and as a worker of Awami League, who believes in the ideals of Bangabandhu”.
If Sheikh Hasina did not return to Bangladesh in 1981, by now, this country would have certainly become another Afghanistan, Pakistan or even worse.
Following Sheikh Hasina’s return to Bangladesh, the country witnessed a shift of power from military dictator Ziaur Rahman to Hussain Muhammed Ershad – another pro-Islamist and pro-Pakistan element, who as a first step declared Islam as the “state religion” of Bangladesh. General Ershad also formed alliances with war criminals and radical Islamic forces in Bangladesh was clearly advancing towards emerging into a xerox copy of Muammar Al Gaddafi. After assuming power, Ershad even formed a political party with the similar ideology of Gaddafi’s ‘Arab Socialist Union of Libya’ party. At this stage, pro-democratic forces under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina had to continue struggle for long nine years finally to attain victory as Ershad was forced to step-down from power in 1990 as he was branded as the “most hated individual” in the country.
During her interview in BBC, Prime Minister has reiterated her commitment to holding free and fair elections, saying it is part of her “struggle to establish democracy”.
There is no doubt that the January 2024 general elections in Bangladesh will be free and fair. But, Islamist forces and defeated war criminals of 1971 will intensify their notorious anti-Bangladesh propaganda in the international arena by spending millions of dollars with the evil agenda of returning to power and push Bangladesh towards their roadmap of a rogue country with Afghan Taliban-type radical Islamism that would certainly deny rights of women as well as secularist ideology. To stop such poisonous elements from returning to power, international community needs to extend its unconditional support to Sheikh Hasina. Bangladesh needs to continue its current pace of socio-economic prosperity, for which, there is no alternative to Sheikh Hasina – at least until now.
