Bangladesh's deposed premier Sheikh Hasina demands 'justice', seeks probe into recent killings
Dhaka/New Delhi (PTI): Bangladesh's deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday demanded "justice", saying those involved in recent "terror acts", killings and vandalism must be investigated, identified and punished.
In her first public statement after her ouster on August 5, 76-year-old Hasina said several lives have been lost in violence in the name of agitation since July.
Hasina resigned and fled to India last week after weeks of deadly protests involving students against her government over a controversial quota system in jobs.
In a statement in Bengali posted by her US-based son Sajeeb Wazed Joy on his X handle, Hasina said that since July, several lives of students, teachers, policemen, journalists, leaders and activists of her Awami League and ordinary people were lost in violence and anarchy.
She mourned their deaths and sought eternal blessings for their souls and conveyed sympathy to the members of bereaved families.
"I sympathise with those like me who continue to live with the pain of losing near and dear ones. I demand a proper investigation to identify those involved in these killings and terror acts, and appropriate punishment for them," Hasina said, recalling the brutal assassination of her family members on August 15, 1975.
The interim government on Tuesday cancelled the national holiday on August 15, marking the assassination of the country's founder and Hasina's father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
In her statement, Hasina expressed grief over the burning down of the Bangabandhu Museum during the violence, saying the "memory and inspiration, which we had to live, was burnt into ashes”.
"This was an extreme defamation of someone...under whose leadership we became an independent nation. I seek justice from the countrymen for this act,” she said.
Hasina, who is currently in Delhi, urged Bangladeshis to observe the day peacefully, offering wreaths at the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum premises and through prayers.
Soon after Hasina resigned and left the country, an angry mob virtually set the museum on fire.
The museum was originally Bangbandhu's private residence, where he was killed along with his family members in a military coup staged by a group of junior officers while Hasina, her two minor children, and her younger sister Sheikh Rehana were in Germany on a short visit.
"I appeal to you, to observe with due fervour August 15 as the national mourning day. Pay your respect by offering wreaths at Bangabandhu Bhaban and pray, seeking peace for the departed souls,” she said.
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Trump pauses Project Freedom, claims great progress for final agreement with Iran
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump has suspended “Project Freedom,” to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, claiming progress in negotiations with Iran toward an agreement to end the war.
In a post on Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump said, “Great progress has been made toward a complete and final agreement with representatives of Iran.”
“Based on the request of Pakistan and other Countries, the tremendous Military Success that we have had during the Campaign against the Country of Iran and, additionally, the fact that Great Progress has been made toward a Complete and Final Agreement with Representatives of Iran, we have mutually agreed that, while the Blockade will remain in full force and effect, Project Freedom (The Movement of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz) will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the Agreement can be finalized and signed," Trump said.
Project Freedom was launched on Monday to escort ships, stranded due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, out to safety. Trump had announced the operation on Sunday and the US Central Command began implementing it the next day.
However, the Project led to friction in the vicinity of the narrow seaway, a key route for transporting one-fifth of the global oil supplies, with the UAE claiming that its ships were attacked by Iran. The US also claimed to have destroyed several Iranian small boats.
Trump’s statement on Truth Social came hours after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Operation Epic Fury, launched on February 28, had concluded as its objectives have been achieved.
"Operation Epic Fury is concluded. We achieved the objectives of that operation. We're not cheering for an additional situation to occur. We would prefer the path of peace. What @POTUS would prefer is a deal... that is, so far, not the route that Iran has chosen," Rubio told a press conference at the White House on Tuesday.
On Project Freedom, Rubio said the goal was to rescue almost 23,000 civilians from 87 different countries who were trapped inside the Persian Gulf and left for dead by the Iranian regime.
"This is not an offensive operation. This is a defensive operation, and what that means is very simple: there’s no shooting unless we're shot at first. We’re not attacking them, but if they're attacking us or they’re attacking a ship, you need to respond to that," Rubio said.
