The United States has firmly denied any involvement in the ousting of Sheikh Hasina, who recently stepped down and left the country. On Monday, the White House addressed these claims, labeling them as “simply false.”
White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre clarified during a press briefing that the U.S. had no part in the recent developments in Bangladesh. “Any reports or rumors suggesting that the United States government was involved in these events are simply untrue,” Jean-Pierre stated.
A media report had earlier suggested that Hasina accused the U.S. of attempting to remove her from power to gain control over Bangladesh’s Saint Martin’s Island in the Bay of Bengal. The report claimed that Hasina shared this accusation through her close associates. However, Hasina’s son, Sajeeb Wazed, refuted this on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday, stating that she never made such a claim.
The White House emphasized that the future of Bangladesh’s government should be determined by its people, reinforcing their stance on the matter.
In the wake of Hasina’s departure, an interim government led by Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus was established in Bangladesh on Thursday, with the goal of overseeing upcoming elections. The country has been experiencing widespread unrest following student protests against government job quotas, which escalated into a larger movement to remove Hasina from power.
Sheikh Hasina, who had secured a fourth consecutive term in January in an election marred by an opposition boycott and criticized by the U.S. State Department as neither free nor fair, has reportedly gone to New Delhi after leaving Bangladesh, ending her 15-year tenure.