Yunus govt has 'visceral hatred' for Hasina, Awami League: Former diplomat

New Delhi, Nov 17 (IANS) India's former High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, on Monday termed the conviction of former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as "political vendetta", asserting that all those in power in Dhaka currently have a "visceral hatred" for her and the Awami League party. 

In an interview with the IANS, Chakravarty stated that Bangladesh's interim government led by Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus lacks support and warned that the verdict against Hasina might lead to more turbulence in Bangladesh.

When asked whether death sentence given to Sheikh Hasina is result of fair judicial process, he responded, "I think by all accounts, it is political vendetta, which they have been pursuing for quite some time because people who are in power in Dhaka have a visceral hatred for Hasina and the Awami League for a few reasons. One of them is that the Jamaat-e-Islami, which is now calling the shots, participated in the agitation and is now pressurising the government to do all these things like the death sentence because their own leaders who participated in the genocide and helped the Pakistani army in 1971 were convicted by this tribunal and were executed. This tribunal, of course, was set up by Hasina."

"So, they blame Hasina for revenge and now they seek revenge. The students also feel that she used too much excessive force which killed a lot of people -- almost, I think 1200 to 1400 people -- and so they are also seeking revenge. The third party which is seeking revenge is Professor Yunus himself because he also had a lot of difficulties and was very bitter about Hasina because she had filed many cases or got them filed against him for tax evasion, money laundering, etc. So, I think that is also a factor. These are the people who are in power now, so they have all come together to do this and the judiciary was also I think overruled," he added.

The former diplomat's remarks came after Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) on Monday pronounced a death sentence for Sheikh Hasina after it found her guilty on the charges of crimes against humanity related to the demonstrations in July of last year. The former PM denied the accusations that have been made against her in the ICT.

On how he assesses the current political situation in Bangladesh, Chakravarty mentioned, "I think we have seen over the last 17-18 months that there has been an interim government which lacks any popular support in the sense that it is not elected and some people even call it unconstitutional and now we have the verdict against Hasina, which might lead to more turbulence, violence, etc. But, things are not going too well for Bangladesh. I think political instability is now becoming a very, very real phenomena apart from all the economic issues that are bedevilling the situation there."

He also expressed doubt that the forthcoming elections scheduled to be held in Bangladesh in February may not be fair as the people who are in power want to have power and Sheikh Hasina's Awami League party, which still enjoys support on ground, is a hindrance to them.

"The indications are that they may not be because you can see the verdict... I think these forces that are in power there, they may not want a free and fair election because they want to grab power and the Awami League is a hindrance to them because it happens to be the largest party and still enjoys a lot of ground-level support. So, I think that's the problem. By eliminating Awami League, they have a better chance of grabbing power."

In May, Bangladesh's interim government issued a gazette notification banning all activities of Awami League and its affiliate organisations. The ban is imposed under the Anti-Terrorism Act until the trial of the party and its leaders in the Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) is completed.

When asked how India should navigate its ties with Bangladesh, considering the nation's shifting dynamics, Chakravarty responded, "We have been dealing in a low key manner with this current government because as a neighbour, we have to deal with the government who is sitting in Dhaka for carrying on day-to-day activities. But, we have not taken any major steps with them because this government is not going to last... This is the expectation as they were saying we will have elections and go away. I don't know whether that will happen because there are some forces which do not want elections to be held. They want the system to continue because they are beneficiaries of the system and they feel that to remain in power this interim government should continue."

Meanwhile, India's former Ambassador to Poland, Deepak Vohra said that the verdict announced by ICT won't make any difference.

"It won’t make any difference because she (Hasina) was already with us, and our relations with her have always been very good. Let them do whatever they want in their country, demand her return, give orders, nothing will happen. We will do only what is in our rights. If Bangladesh jumps too much or tries to do anything, we have already shown them that our patience has run out, and then they will face severe consequences," he told IANS.

--IANS

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