Washington: The United States has strongly rejected allegations that it was involved in the resignation of former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled to India on August 5 after thousands of protesters gathered in the capital Dhaka, demanding the ouster of her government. More than 450 people were killed in Bangladesh during the weeks of unrest leading up to her toppling. An interim government, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, was subsequently formed.
On Tuesday, United States Department of State Vedant Patel said that the allegations were “laughable” and “absolutely false”.
“That’s laughable. Any implication that the United States was involved in Sheikh Hasina’s resignation is absolutely false,” Patel said at a press briefing.
He added that a lot of disinformation has been spread in recent weeks about the events in Bangladesh.
“We have seen a lot of disinformation in recent weeks and we were made incredibly committed to strengthening information and integrity across the regional ecosystem, especially our partners in South Asia,” Patel said.
Earlier this week, Sheikh Hasina’s son, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, had alleged that the protests in Bangladesh were supported by “foreign forces”.
