The White House maintained on Monday that the United States had no involvement in Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s resignation and subsequent flight from the South Asian country, labeling claims of U.S. meddling as “simply false.”
“We have not been involved in any way. When asked about purported claims of U.S. involvement, White House spokesman Karine Jean-Pierre stated during a news briefing that “any reports or rumors that the United States government was involved in these events is simply false.”
Hasina was quoted as saying that the United States was involved in her removal because it desired authority over Bangladesh’s Saint Martin island in the Bay of Bengal, according to an article published in the Indian newspaper Economic Times on Sunday. According to the publication, Hasina sent the message to them through her close friends and allies.
Sajeeb Wazed, Hasina’s son, claimed in a Sunday post on X that his mother never mentioned anything of the such.
“We believe that the Bangladeshi people should determine the future of the Bangladeshi government and that’s where we stand,” the administration stated.
With the intention of holding elections in the Asian country, Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus headed an interim administration in Bangladesh was sworn in on Thursday.
Following student protests last month against quotas that reserved a large share of government positions for certain groups, which turned into a campaign to remove Hasina, Bangladesh was plunged in riots and violence.
In January, she secured her fourth consecutive term in an election that was declared not free and fair by the US State Department and boycotted by the opposition.
After departing Bangladesh, Hasina moved to New Delhi, bringing an end to her 15 years of unbroken leadership.
