Five-time Prime Minister and Awami League President Sheikh Hasina has said that she has forgiven the ordinary students, who were misguided during the anti-quota movement in July-August last year, but vowed legal action against the conspirators and terrorists.
She asked them not to spare the conspirators and the terrorists and urged all to resist the evil forces.
Sheikh Hasina made the remarks recently when some students joined a virtual discussion to confess that they were influenced by the student leaders, teachers, and a quarter of the media to join the movement.
But they realised their mistake soon after seeing that a vested interest group, backed by Jamaat-Shibir, captured power by overthrowing the government through massive violence. Since then, the individuals behind the conspiracy have gained personally through corruption and nepotism, violating the anti-discriminatory spirit of the movement and exposing their ugly faces behind masks.
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The students described the sorry state of law and order in the country, saying that they do not feel safe anywhere. One of them said that those who decided to quit the movement after rejecting anarchy were threatened with dire consequences.
They unanimously said Bangladesh was better under Deshrotno Sheikh Hasina.
โI do not have any complaints or grievances against anyone. But it is true that I was hurt. I developed the country through tireless work day and night. From 2009 to 2024, I ensured peace and safety,โ Sheikh Hasina said.
โBut when they waged a movement and blamed me falsely, it really hurt me.
โI never killed anyone, nor did I order anyone to kill. I ordered the formation of an inquiry commission when the killings took place. I was suspiciousโฆ I felt that a vested quarter killed the people deliberately, assuming that the government would fall if there were more corpses.
โI quit so that no mother loses her child. I knew that everyone would realise their mistakes one day.โ
โI never took revengeโ
The elder daughter of Bangabandhu, Sheikh Hasina, said she was not the kind of person to punish the students who were misguided.
โI am tolerant enough. You are just kids. You can make mistakesโฆmaybe you were romanticised that you will do something. But today you have realised that it was not the right path.
โI have never taken revenge against anyone. I do not do that; rather, I forgive.โ
She added that those who provoked and misguided the students will not be spared for destroying the country and spreading propaganda. The conspirators have killed many people, destroyed state properties, and resorted to looting and plundering. They have degraded the countryโs image.
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They slandered the Awami League government and misguided the students. Now, they are trying to confuse the students again, Sheikh Hasina said, describing how the Yunus-led interim government is implicating her and her family members in a volley of cases.
โThe government is spending money to wage propaganda against her, making false audio clips using AI to harass us. But I know the truth will prevail. I know we did not make any mistake,โ she said, asking the students not to forgive those who are destroying the country.
Sheikh Hasina hoped that the students would love the country and lead it on the right path in the future.
The Awami League has repeatedly said that the party will rebuild the nation once it returns to power. โNot revenge, Awami League will rescue the nation from the darkness of illegal rule,โ it said in a statement on June 20.
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Highlighting the plans, the party said that the return of the Awami League means complete reconstruction of national institutions, reestablishment of the independence of the judiciary, ensuring the evaluation of merit in the administration, and restoration of the spirit of the Liberation War in education, culture, and economy.
โBangladesh nowadays is in a terrible political, cultural, and administrative crisis because it is ruled by those who have no public basis, no constitutional legitimacy, and no mandate,โ the statement said.
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