Sheikh Hasina levels big charge against US in undelivered speech: Report

Before she fled her country amid wide raging protests, former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had prepared a speech addressing the nation and especially the protestors whose agitation led to her resignation.

Hasina, however, never got to deliver the speech as the violent demonstrators reached her doorstep, putting her security in danger.

According to an NDTV report , Hasina, who is now in India, spoke to her close associates about the undelivered speech in which she has accused the USA of conspiring to throw her out of power as she "did not surrender the sovereignty of Saint Martin Island."

"I resigned so that I did not have to see the procession of dead bodies. They wanted to come to power over the dead bodies of students, but I did not allow it. I resigned from premiership. I could have remained in power if I had surrendered the sovereignty of Saint Martin Island and allowed America to hold sway over the Bay of Bengal. I beseech to the people of my land, please do not be manipulated by radicals," the NDTV report quoted Hasina's speech.

Saint Martin's Island is also known as Narikel Jinjira (Coconut Island) or Daruchini Dwip (Cinnamon Island) and is situated in the northeastern part of the Bay of Bengal. A popular tourist destination, Saint Martin is Bangladesh's only coral island and is known for its natural beauty.

"Maybe, if I had stayed in the country, more lives would have been lost. I have removed myself. You were my strength, you did not want me, so I have left," she added in the speech.

As per the NDTV report, Hasina also addressed her party members in the speech and said that the Awami League will bounce back.

She further added that she will return soon.

"Don't lose hope. I will return soon. I have lost but the people of Bangladesh have won, the people for whom my father, my family died," the undelivered speech read.

On August 5, Sheikh Hasina had resigned as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh and fled her residence in Dhaka following weeks of anti-government protests across the country. At the centre of people's anger was the Hasina government’s controversial quota system reserving 30 per cent jobs for families of veterans who fought the 1971 liberation war.

Over 230 people were killed in Bangladesh in the incidents of violence that erupted across the country following the fall of the Hasina government, taking the death toll to 560 since the anti-quota protests first started in mid-July.

(With inputs from PTI)