Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has called for greater scrutiny of enforced disappearance allegations against the Bangladesh government to determine how true they actually are.
“Anyone can make an allegation, but the allegation should be verified before making any comments,” she said during an interview with BBC journalist Laura Kuenssberg that was aired on Sunday.
“How many people have disappeared in your country, or in other countries? You can’t judge. In these kinds of issues, information has to be collected before making any accusations,” the Bangladesh premier added.
The prime minister further said that free and fair elections have been held in Bangladesh only during periods of governance by the Awami League, as she has always struggled for establishing democracy and democratic rights in the country.
Mahmud Hossain Opu/Dhaka TribuneSheikh Hasina, in London to attend the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, said there were no democracy and democratic rights in Bangladesh after the assassination of her father and 18 other family members in 1975. Military rulers exercised power either overtly or covertly for many years after the horrific August 15 massacres.
“The military rulers formed parties, but they never went to the people to ask for votes. They used the army, administration, and every other means just to remain in power,” said the premier.
Asked about her personal memories of the late Queen Elizabeth II, the prime minister said she met the monarch and spoke to her at every Commonwealth summit as well as at other events that they both attended.
“The Queen always remembered me. Whenever she didn’t see me at a program, she would ask where Hasina was,” the premier added.
Sheikh Hasina also recalled how she first saw the Queen through a pair of binoculars from her father’s office when she visited erstwhile East Pakistan in 1961.
“When she visited then-East Pakistan in 1961, I had the opportunity to see her. We were very young. We went to my father’s office because we knew that she (Queen Elizabeth-II) would be passing through that (nearby) road. All of us – the whole family-- were waiting at the window with binoculars so that we could see her,” she said.
Sheikh Hasina also spoke of how the Queen once invited her to watch the Olympics, helping to fulfill one of her dreams. “I had the opportunity to hold a long discussion with her at that time.”
The prime minister said: “Yes, she is the Queen of the United Kingdom, but she was also the leader of the Commonwealth. So, (for us) as a member country of the Commonwealth, she has a great value to us,” she said.
“We love the Queen. She was so affectionate. I am lucky that she always remembered my name also. I have come here to pay my respects to her,” Sheikh Hasina added.
