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Former Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal claimed Army Chief Waker-Uz-Zaman acted as a CIA agent in ousting Sheikh Hasina, alleging a US plot to weaken South Asian leaders and seize St. Martin’s Island. Hasina, now in Delhi, echoed similar charges and vowed to return for justice.
In a sensational revelation more than a year after the ouster of former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh's former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, in a new book, claimed that Army Chief Waker-Uz-Zaman acted as the CIA's agent and orchestrated the coup. Calling the army chief the “main plotter”, Kamal accused the US of destabilizing Bangladesh, claiming that America doesn't want “too many powerful heads of state in South Asia.” He named Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Sheikh Hasina in the list of powerful leaders in South Asia. He also repeated Hasina's claims that the US wants St Martin’s Island from Bangladesh.
The claims were made in a yet-to-be-released book, ‘Inshallah Bangladesh: The Story of an Unfinished Revolution’ written by Deep Halder, Jaideep Mazumdar and Sahidul Hasan Khokon and published by Juggernaut, News 18 reported. "It was a perfect CIA plot hatched over a long period of time to overthrow Hasina. We did not know the CIA had Waker in its pocket," Kamal was quoted as saying. "Two reasons. The first is not to have too many powerful heads of state in South Asia. Modi, Xi, Hasina. How would the CIA operate if such strong leaders rule the subcontinent? American interests are best served with weaker governments. But there was a more immediate reason – St Martin’s Island," Kamal said in the book, as per News18.
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In the same book, Hasina blamed “imposters" and “terror apologists" for the fall of her government and said that she would return to "deliver justice to her people." She also slammed interim Bangladeshi leader Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus and alleged that he supported the US in regime change in Bangladesh. Calling him a "cheat", Hasina accused him of looting the country after coming to the helm of affairs. She called the student uprising that led to the fall of her government a "terror act" and claimed that Yunus financed it. Recently, Hasina also confirmed that she is in New Delhi.