Hasina’s triple interview: Coincidence or power play?, ran the headline of a story in the Dhaka Tribune on Friday. It was in the context of written answers to questions given by ousted former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina to The Independent, Reuters and AFP.
All the interviews were published on the same day, the report in the Dhaka Tribune noted, evidently for maximum impact and may have reflected concern that the verdict of the Bangladesh War Crimes Tribunal, due next month, could indict her for abuse of power including the torture and death of individuals and opposition figures.
Chief Prosecutor Tajul Islam has accused Hasina of “being the nucleus around whom all the crimes were committed.”
Fifteen army officers have already been identified for such actions during her tenure and 14 of them are currently in custody awaiting trial.
In the interview with AFP, she dismissed as “bogus”, charges before the tribunal that she ordered security forces to fire on protestors.
In the Reuters interview, Hasina described the proceedings of the tribunal as “a politically motivated charade. They have been brought by kangaroo courts with guilty verdicts a foregone conclusion.”
She also said the ban on her party the Awami League, from taking part in the elections “is not only unjust, it is self-defeating. Millions of people support the Awami League, so as things stand they will not vote. You cannot disenfranchise millions of people if you want a political system to work.”
She said she will not ask her supporters in Bangladesh to vote for other parties, rather she hoped “common sense will prevail and we will be allowed to contest the elections ourselves.”
The Dhaka Tribune report made another interesting point: “after internal discussions, India too gave a green light.”
The view is that for Hasina’s views to be broadcast internationally would have required a nod from Delhi. It recalled that Bangladesh Interim Adviser Muhammad Yunus had urged Prime Minister Modi that Hasina not be allowed any publicity as it could destabilise the situation at home.
Modi’s remark, the report said, spoke volumes: “In the age of social media, it’s impossible to silence anyone.”
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