It has not been a good few months for Sheikh Hasina, who became the Prime Minister of Bangladesh for the fifth time after winning the elections held in January this year. First there were allegations of rigging in the elections, then weeks of demonstrations regarding the quota system and finally the demand for Sheikh Hasina’s resignation. Sheikh Hasina had to bow before the protesters. He had to resign and with this he also had to leave his own country. The same country where Sheikh Hasina was in power for 15 years.
However, the circumstances under which Sheikh Hasina had to resign and leave the country are now being claimed as ‘foreign interference’.
Sheikh Hasina’s son Sajeeb Wajed has expressed suspicion of America’s hand behind this coup. Talking to Aaj Tak, he said, ‘America does not want a strong government. He wants a weak government in Bangladesh. He wants a government that he can control. He could not control Sheikh Hasina.
Well-known analyst Brahma Chellaney has also talked about the foreign angle. He wrote on social media, ‘Sheikh Hasina gave rapid economic development to Bangladesh. But powerful external forces stood against him. China got angry with his decision to give Teesta project to India. And sadly, Biden also went after him.
However, Sheikh Hasina had already indicated a few months ago that America is being blamed for the coup in Bangladesh. Sheikh Hasina had said in a meeting without taking the name of America that pressure was being put on her from abroad.
What did Sheikh Hasina say?
In May this year, Sheikh Hasina had revealed that she had received an offer from a foreign country that if she allowed it to build an airbase in Bangladesh, then she would be easily returned in the elections.
Sheikh Hasina had said, ‘If I allow a particular country to build an airbase in Bangladesh, I will not have any problem.’ He did not take the name of any country, but did say that he had received this offer from a ‘white man’. He had said at that time that his government would always be in crisis, but there was no need to worry about it.
When she was asked about the ‘White Man’, she had said, ‘I have clearly told him that I am the daughter of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. We have won our liberation war. I do not want to come to power by renting any part of the country or handing it over to any other country.
Conspiracy to create a Christian country!
Sheikh Hasina had claimed that there is a conspiracy going on to break up some parts of Bangladesh and Myanmar and make them a Christian country.
He had said, ‘Like East Timor, he will create a Christian country by taking parts of Bangladesh and Myanmar with a base in the Bay of Bengal.’
By mentioning East Timor, Sheikh Hasina had in a way pointed towards America. East Timor became an independent country only in 2002. America has a significant presence here. Every year America spends millions of dollars here.
America was not happy with the election either!
General elections were held in Bangladesh on January 7 this year. The opposition had boycotted this election. In this election, Sheikh Hasina’s party Awami League won 224 out of 300 seats in the Parliament.
Only 40 percent voting took place in this election. The opposition had alleged rigging in the elections. However, Awami League had claimed free and fair elections.
America had expressed unhappiness over these election results. US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller had said, ‘America is troubled by the arrest of thousands of opposition leaders and reports of irregularities on election day.’
Miller had said that ‘these elections were not free and fair and sadly not all parties took part in it.’
When Sheikh Hasina made a big allegation against America
It was the same thing last year. While speaking in Parliament, Sheikh Hasina made a major attack on America without taking its name. He had said that if he wanted, he could overthrow the government of any country, especially Muslim countries.
Sheikh Hasina had said, ‘This country keeps giving us the illusion of democracy with its words. Our opposition parties and some people applaud this. Let’s dance.
He had said, ‘He can overthrow the government of any country. Especially of Muslim countries. As long as they had control over Islamic countries, everything was fine.
Why are such allegations leveled against America?
America has been accused of overthrowing the governments of many countries. Sometimes by supporting opposition parties and somewhere by funding terrorist groups, he started instigating rebellion in those countries. He was also accused of spreading anarchy by assassinating the heads of state of some countries.
In 1953, Mohammad Mosaddeq, the elected Prime Minister of Iran, was ousted from power. America had a hand in his coup. Actually, Mohammad Mosaddeq had nationalized oil. Western countries were angry with this. After this the game of removing Mohammad Mosaddeq from power began. Last year, the CIA had admitted that removing Mohammad Mosaddeq was undemocratic.
After this, America has played an important role in toppling the governments of Guatemala in 1954, Congo in 1960, South Vietnam in 1963, Brazil in 1964 and Chile in 1973.
In 2007, American author Stephen Kinzer said in his book ‘Overthrow: America’s Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq’ that toppling and overthrowing elected governments has been an important part of America’s foreign policy. In this book, Stephen Kinzer writes, ‘America did not hesitate at all in overthrowing those governments that stood in the way of its political and economic goals.’
Similarly, in 2016, Washington Post had claimed in its report that during the Cold War, America had tried to stage coups in 72 countries.
After the 9/11 attacks, America attacked Afghanistan. The Taliban were ousted from power there and an interim government was formed under the leadership of Hamid Karzai. Hamid Karzai later became the President of Afghanistan. Under him, Ashraf Ghani was elected President in 2014. However, after the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban again came to power.
In 2003, America invaded Iraq and ousted Saddam Hussein from power. Saddam Hussein was arrested. Saddam Hussein was hanged in December 2006.
Two years ago, when Imran Khan’s government fell in Pakistan, America was also blamed for this. In August last year, a leaked document had revealed that America had asked the Pakistani ambassador to remove Imran Khan from power.
It was revealed in this leaked document that in March 2022, there was a conversation between two officials of the US State Department and the Ambassador of Pakistan. In this meeting, the officials had told the Pakistani Ambassador that if Imran Khan is removed from power then America will maintain good relations with Pakistan. Earlier, Imran Khan had also alleged that America had a hand in bringing down his government.