When the complex reality that emerged on August 4 at one stage of the students’ quota movement and the way a section of the country was criticizing her, the then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was staying at Ganabhaban, repeatedly said out of frustration that despite her contributions to the country’s development, if they criticize her, then let them run the country.

She then highlighted the accomplishments of her government, including a reduction in the poverty rate from 40% to 20%, an increase in the literacy rate, the development of roads, and the fulfillment of the three UN conditions necessary to transition from a least developed country to a developing country. She said that she would resign systematically and go to Tungipara.

Former State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Professor Mohammad A Arafat, in a recent interview on a YouTube channel, said that there were many discussions about what the party should do on August 4. Had she been able to ensure the security of the capital by opposing the “Long March to Dhaka” program on the 5th, she might have resigned that day and announced the election. She did not want to remain in power, causing more deaths.

Some say that she did not want to quit. In this regard, Professor Arafat said, “This is a blatant lie.” On August 5, Sheikh Hasina herself said that she would not stay in Ganabhaban but would go to Tungipara. She wanted to go to Bangabhaban and give the resignation letter to the President. But that did not happen. The signature on the resignation letter no longer matters. The President must receive it.

But before that, she was forced to board a helicopter to be physically removed; she was sent out of the country, said the former state minister, who was elected as a member of parliament from the Dhaka-17 constituency. That is why the formalities of submitting the resignation letter to the President could not be done, he added.

Then, on August 8, before the interim government led by Professor Muhammad Yunus took oath at Bangabhaban, they searched for the resignation letter. But no one found it.

On August 5, such a situation was created that the resignation letter did not actually reach the President. She wanted to quit, go to Bangabhaban to hand over the resignation letter to the President and go to Tungipara. Then there would be a new government that she would oversee. That was what she thought.

Professor Arafat, known as an important person in the government, said that Sheikh Hasina did not want to be the Prime Minister for this term (2024-29). The previous one was supposed to be her last.

But in the end, she decided to hold elections because the continuity of many development projects could not be maintained due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Before Covid ended, the energy market became turbulent due to the Russia-Ukraine war; it had an impact on the world market, and inflation increased. The government had to deal with those emergencies. She realized that she had lost 3 to 3 and a half years.

Professor Arafat said that Sheikh Hasina had some dreams, some wishes. For example, not a single person would be homeless. She had some goals to alleviate poverty. So, she started working to fulfill those goals during this term. She thought that after that she would retire from politics, go to Tungipara and stay there. She used to tell these things to the party leaders occasionally.

In response to the news of his arrest, the news of leaving the country with the help of intelligence agencies, or the news of his release in exchange for a large sum of money, Prof Arafat said these are just rumors.

Again, regarding the detention of former minister Hasan Mahmud at the airport along with former state minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak while going abroad, Arafat said, “This is not true; this was also a rumor.”

Regarding some of the other central leaders being arrested while many are staying abroad, Arafat said that in a complex situation and an unusual reality like August 5th, where armed militants were roaming the streets, attacking people’s homes and offices, looting, and mob killings, it is difficult to find answers to who, where, and how was able to secure themselves.

Hearing the demand for the abolition of the freedom fighter quota and seeing the anger and resentment toward the heroic sons of the nation, Sheikh Hasina understood at the beginning of the movement that Jamaat-Shibir and militants were involved among the students. They deceived the people by hiding their political identities.

He said that the Awami League and the intelligence agencies did not understand the depth of the conspiracy. On the other hand, the government always wanted to reduce the number of casualties, or else the government would suffer. Therefore, the government asked the police to demonstrate maximum tolerance.

Provocations

After the July 15 clashes between student protesters and Chhatra League members at Dhaka University, which left nearly 200 injured, the State Department issued a statement claiming two deaths. This news became viral and provoked severe protests on July 16, when the students and anti-Awami League political parties targeted the police across the country, forcing them to retaliate. Six people, including Chhatra League activist Sobuj Mia, Shibir activist Abu Sayed and Chhatra Dal member Wasim, were killed on that day.

Arafat said that Sheikh Hasina formed a judicial inquiry committee to conduct a fair trial in each incident of death and invited the United Nations to assist in the investigation. She wanted the guilty to be identified.

Nevertheless, from August 18, anarchy was waged by setting fire to many government establishments, looting weapons from police stations and prisons, and targeting and killing police. At that time, most media outlets sided with the protesters, which led to their victory. They did not publish any articles about Shibir and the militants. They killed and set fire to the police in the guise of students, but no media outlet reported them impartially.

Primary investigations revealed that there were snipers and heavily armed militants in the student-led protests who wanted to incite the protesters and gain sympathy from the public by increasing the number of deaths. They looted police stations and prisons, killed policemen, and shot ordinary protesters and people on the roofs and balconies of residential buildings.

However, the Yunus government has halted the work of the powerful inquiry committee and is not assisting the United Nations inquiry committee by providing comprehensive information. On the other hand, the government has issued an ordinance of impunity to stop the trial of any crime committed between July 15 and August 8.

Confessions

Later, however, Prof Yunus himself said that this movement was part of a meticulous design; it was not spontaneous. On the other hand, a central student coordinator said that if they had not set fire to various government establishments, including the metro rail, and killed the police, their victory would not have been achieved easily.

A BNP leader from Sirajganj boasted that they had demoralized the police by killing 15 of them at the Enayetpur police station on August 4. Once again, Chhatra Dal leaders asserted that after the students withdrew on August 17, they created fictitious ID cards and occupied the streets alongside party workers. And the leaders of the Gono Odhikar Parishad said that the movement started along the path of the anti-quota movement that started in 2018 and was spearheaded by the leaders of that time. At one stage, they accelerated the students’ movement by involving the parties that had been in the movement against the Awami League for 15 years, including BNP, Jamaat, and AB Party.

On the other hand, after many leaders and activists of Chhatra Shibir of various universities revealed their true identities, it was seen that some of them were known as Chhatra League leaders until now. In addition, the top leaders of Dhaka University Shibir, who have written columns in newspapers and given interviews on TV, assert that since the movement’s inception, they have played a leading role in important tasks such as formulating plans, setting programs, deploying party cadres at 10 points across Dhaka, writing memorandums and press releases, distributing them throughout the country, and formulating nine-point demands. Another central coordinator joined Shibir’s central conference and supported this statement.

Therefore, the news of Sheikh Hasina’s departure from the country, the destruction of monuments of Bangabandhu, the Liberation War and Bengali culture across the country, and the attacks on the Awami League and minorities make it clear that the anti-liberation Jamaat-Shibir and militants were waging the movement to overthrow the government under the guise of the anti-quota movement.

Yunus’ inefficiencies

Speaking about the interim government’s inefficiency and duplicity, Prof Arafat said that they talk about the corruption of the Awami League, but they increased the time and cost of several projects. They are withdrawing capital worth billions of takas from the stock market and laundering large sums of money abroad. They could not stop the menace or identify the culprits.

He said corruption allegations in the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project are being made against Sheikh Hasina’s family members based on information from a US-based fake news website named Global Defense Corp. In addition, a story of a $300 million scam is being made by quoting a dead FBI official through a news item published on the same fake website. On the other hand, the interim government’s white paper is being promoted with fabricated information, and the potential amount of money laundering in the past 15 years mentioned in the Global Financial Integrity (GFI) report is being circulated as accurate information.

Moreover, the Chief Adviser’s office is supplying false and fabricated news on corruption involving the Awami League leaders. Being scared of the thugs supporting the government or complicit in the meticulously designed coup, the media is publishing these news items every day. International observers have suggested that there is no press freedom in Bangladesh, with hundreds being stripped of their accreditation cards, dismissed from jobs, and implicated in politically motivated cases.

The former state minister said that all corrupt people, including his party leaders and activists, should be tried through proper investigation. But he strongly criticized the mass murder cases, mass arrests, harassment and the ongoing culture of killing and occupation of land and properties. He also raised questions as to why the civil society leaders and the media kept mum on the misrule of the current government but had been vocal against the Awami League.

Self-assessment, reconciliation

Regarding Sheikh Hasina’s congratulatory message to the newly elected US President Donald Trump, Prof Arafat said that the word “prime minister”—mentioned in the letter—was in brackets.

Joe Biden is still the US President, and Trump has not yet taken office. But he is also being called President now. If someone has been President once, s/he can still be called President. Also, it is not necessary to call him/her a former. It is a kind of figure of speech, used to reflect the identity of a person.

Prof Arafat said that the Awami League has never explicitly demanded that Sheikh Hasina is still the Prime Minister of Bangladesh. However, constitutionally, she is still the Prime Minister, because her resignation has not been executed properly.

He said that the Awami League government made some wrong decisions during the movement. Besides, there were mistakes in the work of the party and the government due to being in a state of chaos for 15 years.

Several senior leaders who are in hiding and abroad are saying that the Awami League is reviewing these and learning from their mistakes. They think that the people will not accept the seizure of power by the Jamaat-BNP and jihadists, and the humiliation of the Liberation War and freedom fighters. As a result, if the Awami League comes to power again, the conspirators and criminals will be brought under the law.

He said that now Sheikh Hasina is becoming active in politics again. She wanted to retire in a peaceful time. Today, Bangladesh has been turned into hell; there is no law and order in the country, and as a result, people feel insecure. This government has released top terrorists and militants. The rise of militancy is visible. Politicians, journalists, cultural workers, teachers and researchers are being harassed and tortured. Cases are being filed against them.

In this reality, Sheikh Hasina feels she cannot avoid her responsibility. This is what she is fighting for, Prof Arafat said.