Copyright news18
Soon after his explosive remarks on the “betrayal” of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina in a new book were revealed, her former home minister followed them up with a sharp attack on Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus. Former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, once the second most powerful man in Bangladesh before the Sheikh Hasina regime fell in August last year, called Muhammad Yunus a “conspiratorial, egocentric character”. Earlier News18 reported how Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, in a yet-to-be-released book, called the power transfer last year a “perfect CIA plot”. He alleged that Bangladesh army chief Waker-Uz-Zaman – a relative of Hasina – is “in its (CIA’s) pockets” and “backstabbed” her. In what can be called a direct allegation, Khan Kamal told News18 in an exclusive interview that the betrayal by Waker-uz-Zaman was the catalyst for the entire incident. He, however, was non-committal about the United States and its alleged role in the regime change. Khan Kamal said the US has consistently extended its hand of cooperation to assist Bangladeshi law enforcement agencies in combating terrorism. His bombshell revelation about Waker has been made in the book, Inshallah Bangladesh: The Story of an Unfinished Revolution written by Deep Halder, Jaideep Mazumdar and Sahidul Hasan Khokon and published by Juggernaut. Excerpts from the interview: You claim a CIA operative was embedded in Dhaka’s power corridors — was this infiltration into Bangladesh’s security apparatus, or a deeper attempt to engineer regime change? The United States is a great power. We have all seen their positive impact on world politics and peacekeeping. In recent times, the whole world has been committed to suppressing terrorism, and the US is leading the way. We have always seen it this way. The biggest challenge in the world today is to eradicate terrorism, and Bangladesh is no exception. For this purpose, the US has consistently extended its hand of cooperation to assist our law enforcement agencies in combating terrorism. I hope this trend will continue in the future as well. You allege the (Bangladesh) army chief double-crossed Sheikh Hasina — was this purely personal ambition, or part of a larger western blueprint to weaken India’s strategic ally in Dhaka? The army chief played the leading role. His betrayal was the catalyst for the entire incident. He had the power to control the whole matter, and the current situation is also a result of his actions.
