Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia today greeted people from her hospital bed, saying the country was “liberated” due to the efforts of “our brave children”. Khaleda Zia, who was released from jail after Sheikh Hasina resigned as prime minister and fled the country, also thanked those “who prayed for my health and freedom.”
“This victory has given us a new beginning. We have to build a new country, a prosperous Bangladesh, from the rubble of a long-standing democracy and a pile of corruption. The students, the youth, are our future. We will realise the dreams for which they shed their blood,” he said in a video message posted on social media.
She said, “I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to our brave children who fought death to make the impossible possible. Tribute to hundreds of martyrs.”
The release of two-time prime minister and Bangladesh Nationalist Party chief Khaleda Zia was ordered by President Mohammad Shahabuddin hours after Sheikh Hasina was removed from office.
Ms Zia was convicted of corruption in 2018 and sentenced to 17 years in prison, making her ineligible to contest elections later that year. Due to poor health, she remained in hospital for most of this period.
Even after the ouster of Sheikh Hasina from power, the wave of violence that has been continuing for the last one month in the neighboring country has not stopped. The bodies of 20 Awami League leaders have been recovered in Bangladesh since Sheikh Hasina left Dhaka on Monday.
Nobel laureate and the country’s microfinance pioneer Muhammad Yunus, who heads the military-backed interim government, has appealed for calm.
Sheikh Hasina, daughter of Bangladesh’s founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, resigned from the top post after the army’s 45-minute ultimatum and left the country. She is currently in India.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said yesterday that the government was giving him time to “recover” before discussing his next plans.
“Within a very short time, they sought permission to come to India. Simultaneously, we received a request from Bangladesh authorities for permission to fly,” Mr Jaishankar had told the Lok Sabha.