New Delhi [India], January 24 (ANI): Former Bangladesh MP and Joint General Secretary of the Awami League, Bahauddin Nasim, described the statement made by Sheikh Hasina, former Prime Minister and President of the Bangladesh Awami League, as 'entirely justified,' alleging that the current Yunus government has 'blood on its hands.'

His remarks came in response to Sheikh Hasina's recent attack on the Interim Government led by Muhammad Yunus.

Speaking to ANI from an undisclosed location, Nasim alleged that under the orders and patronage of what he described as the occupying and fascist Yunus government, 'countless people in Bangladesh have been subjected to violence and bloodshed at the hands of its henchmen, and many innocent people have died.'

He claimed that 'a vast number of people in Bangladesh, especially leaders, activists, and supporters of the Awami League, religious minorities, indigenous communities, and even young people, poets, writers, and people from various other walks of life, have lost their lives,' adding that they 'have faced and continue to face widespread terrorism on a daily basis.'

Nasim further alleged that 'the acts of protecting and encouraging the murderers, and the actions that further exacerbate this evil, are all being carried out under the leadership of this unelected, occupying, and communal Yunus government,' saying these actions have 'completely destroyed the environment of peace, harmony, development, and prosperity that existed in Bangladesh' when the Awami League was in power.

Stating that 'today, Bangladesh has reached the brink of destruction,' Nasim held the 'fascist Yunus government' responsible for what he described as extreme insecurity across the country.

He said Bangladesh is now 'plagued by fear, revenge, hatred, and malice,' adding that people believe 'the entire country has been transformed into a closed prison.'

Nasim's remarks come weeks ahead of Bangladesh's parliamentary elections scheduled for February 12 and follow a sharp public address by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in which she strongly criticised Muhammad Yunus, Chief Adviser of the Interim Government.

In a pre-recorded audio message played at an event in the national capital, Sheikh Hasina described Yunus as 'a usurer, a money launderer, a plunderer, and a corrupt, power-hungry traitor,' alleging that he has 'bled our nation dry with his all-consuming paradigms, staining the soul of our motherland.'

She said the nation must rise united and be 'galvanised by the spirit of our great Liberation War in this grave hour,' calling on citizens to overthrow 'the foreign-serving puppet regime of this national enemy at any cost' and to defend and restore the Constitution 'written in the blood of martyrs.'

Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh today stands 'at the edge of an abyss, a nation battered and bleeding, navigating one of the most perilous chapters in its history.'

Referring to the legacy of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, she said the homeland won through the Liberation War has been ravaged, adding that 'the entire country has become a vast prison, an execution ground, a valley of death.'

Referring to her departure from the country in August 2024 amid violent protests, Sheikh Hasina said she was 'forcibly ousted' by 'murderous fascist Yunus, and his anti-state militant accomplices,' despite being a directly elected representative of the people. She said the nation has since been plunged into an 'age of terror,' adding, 'Democracy is now in exile.'

Calling on democratic and progressive forces to unite, Sheikh Hasina urged them to take a 'solemn oath to build a humane and welfare-oriented democratic state' and confront what she described as the designs of the Yunus government and its collaborators.

Bangladesh is set to undergo parliamentary elections on February 12. The Election Commission had suspended the registration of the Awami League as a party last year, and the Interim Government has banned all activities of the party. (ANI)