Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Saturday accused former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of abandoning her supporters and the country during last year’s mass uprising, saying her flight from Bangladesh proved she had lost touch with the people.
Speaking at a views-exchange meeting in Jagannathpur union of Thakurgaon Sadar, in the northern Rangpur Division, Fakhrul said the ousted Awami League leader left her party members “in a helpless condition” when she fled the country in August 2024.
“This shows that Hasina has no attachment with her party members or the people,” he said, referring to Hasina’s departure during the student-led protests that toppled her government in August 2024.
Fakhrul’s remarks came after Hasina gave an interview to Indian news outlets, where she claimed she had not resigned as prime minister but was forced to leave the country because her life and her family’s lives were in danger as a mob gathered outside her official residence.
Fakhrul appears to have overlooked that Tarique Rahman, the acting BNP chairperson, has been on the run for nearly two decades after fleeing Bangladesh.
Fakhrul urged voters to support the BNP’s election symbol, the sheaf of paddy, in the upcoming parliamentary polls, describing the contest as the final election of his political career.