Dhaka, August 15, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday accused anti-Awami League and anti-Bangladesh forces of pursuing what she described as a “grand project” to turn the country into Pakistan again, while alleging that Bangladesh had been plunged into widespread anarchy and insecurity.
In a statement shared by the Awami League on X on National Mourning Day, Hasina paid tribute to her father, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who was assassinated on August 15, 1975, along with several members of his family.
Calling August 15 a day of “profound pain and mourning”, Hasina alleged that a group of military officers, backed directly and indirectly by pro-Pakistan forces, carried out the assassination as Bangladesh struggled to rebuild after the 1971 Liberation War.
“In effect, the military establishment, acting as a representative of the Pakistani establishment, sought to avenge Pakistan’s defeat in 1971 by leading this assassination. The subsequent twenty-one years of history became a history of attempts to turn Bangladesh politically and culturally into Pakistan,” she said.
Hasina said five years of Awami League rule achieved through street protests slowed what she described as Pakistan’s resurgence, but did not end it. She alleged that the “Pakistani machinery” was again activated after 2001.
Referring to her party’s 15 years in power from 2009 to 2024, Hasina said the Awami League had sought to move Bangladesh away from what she called the Pakistani trajectory and restore the country to the path of the Liberation War and economic development.
“Over those 15 years, Bangladesh became an extraordinary story of growth in the eyes of the world. But conspirators were being prepared throughout those 15 years,” she said.
She alleged that the July 2024 protests and subsequent political upheaval, which she said involved “massive bloodshed and loss of life”, resulted in the removal of the Awami League government and brought together forces opposed to her party and Bangladesh’s founding principles.
“The result is that the country has been plunged into the darkness of widespread anarchy. The footsteps of famine are being heard in the economy. Poor people are spending their days hungry or half-fed. For Awami League supporters, minorities, and women, Bangladesh has become a country of constant fear and insecurity,” Hasina said.
Bangladesh observes August 15 as National Mourning Day in memory of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who was killed with several family members in 1975.
In her concluding remarks, Hasina pledged to return to Bangladesh and said she remained committed to changing the fate of its people and fulfilling what she described as the “unfinished dream” of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
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