Guwahati: The interim government of Bangladesh in Dhaka, while sending its rejoinder to a reputed English daily of India, expressed utter dismay that the esteemed newspaper allowed itself to be used by ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina 'to whitewash her 15-year reign of crony capitalism, rampant corruption, and crimes against humanity'. Sending a rebuttal to The New Indian Express, the interim government's press secretary Shafiqul Alam also appealed to 'all serious platforms of journalism' to 'report the truth, however inconvenient it may be for the powerful', said a reliable source in the Bangladesh capital city.
Mentionable is that the Chennai-based national daily published an exclusive interview with Hasina, who is now taking an unofficial shelter in India since her sudden departure from Dhaka on 5 August last year, where the leader of Awami League alleged that the current caretaker government chief Prof Muhammad Yunus has 'reportedly acquired around 4,080 kathas of land in Purbachal, where he established a resort under the name Nisorgo'. She also added that Prof Yunus, the lone Nobel laureate of Bangladesh, purchased 300 kathas of land in Uttara locality of Dhaka and held fixed deposits worth approximately Taka 5,000 crore across multiple accounts in different banks of Bangladesh.
Interviewed by senior journalist Gautam Lahiri and published on 7 November 2025, the newspaper carried her voice admitting that there is corruption in the south Asian nation, but 'nobody has been able to show that my (Hasina) family and associates benefitted personally from state resources or were complicit in state-sanctioned corruption'. Responding to the allegation of plundering an estimated $234 billion from Bangladesh during her 15-year premiership, she claimed that all these allegations are unevidenced. That sum far exceeds Bangladesh's entire state budget and if that had happened, the country's economy would have collapsed. What actually happened was that Bangladesh's economy grew by more than 450 per cent over her 15 years in office, claimed the daughter of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
The morning daily with a sizable readership in south India also reported that 'for the first time, PM Hasina accepted leadership responsibility for the killing of thousands of citizens during the mass protest against her government' from 15 July to 5 August 2024. She also made it clear that given an opportunity her party will participate in the upcoming national elections of Bangladesh in February next year. But Awami League has been restricted by the current administration in Dhaka from participating in the polls, which she termed as a clear violation of the Constitution of Bangladesh. Hasina also emphasized on a free, fair and inclusive election, 'so that the country can begin to heal and move towards reconciliation' and that will be possible with the participation of her party. The ousted premier however remained silent on the involvement of foreign hands in her removal from power, the interviewer recorded.
The Dhaka's rebuttal stated that Hasina's assertion over the government's decision to ban her party was constitutional violation is 'an outright falsehood', as the action is fully permitted under the country's laws, the very same provision Hasina herself used, just days before her government was toppled, to ban the activities of Jamaat-e-Islami. Refuting Hasina's claim that her party was committed to uphold the Constitution, the rejoinder added that the Awami League government shattered the Constitution time and again with an aim to prolong Hasina's grip on power. 'Of the last three elections, two excluded the largest opposition entity' (Begum Khaleda Zia-led Bangladesh Nationalist Party) and by her own logic, the Awami League government lacked legitimacy, but she clung to office, asserted the response.
Regarding the 'land and fixed deposits' Hasina referred to actually belong to the Grameen enterprises, the social businesses (founded by Prof Yunus), but he personally does not own a single share. Despite years of repeated accusations, Hasina has failed to produce a single shred of credible evidence — because it does not exist, added the rejoinder, adding Dhaka 'expected at least a minimum level of editorial due diligence to ensure that such wild claims would not be published unchallenged'. By failing to do so, The New Indian Express has done a grave disservice to the readers and regrettably turned the pages into a vehicle for propaganda. The New Indian Express should have challenged such falsehoods without amplifying those unfounded facts, so that it can claim to pursue fair & fearless journalism, stated the rebuttal.
