Hafiz Saeed's Outfit Claims Role In Sheikh Hasina's Ouster From Bangladesh

Last Updated:May 31, 2025, 19:56 IST

Some members of the banned Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) have claimed that their organisation was involved in last year’s mass anti-government protests in Bangladesh

Students chant slogans near a vandalised mural of Bangladesh's ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, during a protest demanding accountability and trial against Hasina, near Dhaka University in the capital. (IMAGE: REUTERS)

Some members of the banned Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), associated with Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed, have claimed that their organisation was involved in last year’s mass anti-government protests in Bangladesh, which they say contributed to the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The claims by JuD members– Saifullah Kasuri and Muzammil Hashmi, a UN-designated terrorist – came during their fiery speeches earlier this week.

“I was four years old when Pakistan was dismembered in 1971. The then Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi had declared that she’d drowned the two-nation theory in Khaleej (Bay of Bengal). On May 10, l … we have taken the revenge of 1971," Kasuri claimed while addressing his supporters in Allahabad, Rahim Yar Khan, some 400 km from Lahore.

The JuD leader was referring to the 1971 Liberation War in Bangladesh (then East Pakistan), during which Pakistan suffered defeat and unconditionally surrendered in Dhaka to the allied forces made up of Bangladeshi freedom fighters and Indian troops.

He also acknowledged that the body of one of his associates, Mudassar, was dismembered in the Indian airstrike on Muridke — the headquarters of JuD/LeT — carried out on May 7 in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people on April 22.

“I was not allowed to attend his funeral. On the day of his funeral, I cried a lot," Kasuri said but did not tell who stopped him from attending Mudassar’s funeral.

On the other hand, the top military, police and civilian bureaucracy of Punjab province of Pakistan were among those who attended Mudassar and two other JuD members’ funerals in full view of cameras.

“I was in my constituency meeting with the people when the Pahalgam incident took place. India made me the mastermind of this attack. India made my city, Kasur, popular in the world," Kasuri said “We are preparing the next generation for jihad…We are not afraid of dying," he added.

In his speech in Gujranwala, some 80 kms from Lahore, a few days ago, Hashmi, referring to the Indian leadership, claimed, “We defeated you in Bangladesh last year…" He was referring to Hasina’s ouster on August 5 following massive anti-government protests led by students. She fled to India, and three days later, Muhammad Yunus took over as the Chief Adviser of the interim government.

The ties between Bangladesh and Pakistan saw a quantum jump after Hasina’s ouster.

“The rhetoric of Jihadi extremists at their public rallies makes it difficult for the rest of the world to believe official assertions that Pakistan is no longer sponsoring or tolerating them," Pakistan’s former diplomat Hussain Haqqani said, reacting to the speeches by the JuD leaders.

(With agency inputs)

Location :

Pakistan

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News world Hafiz Saeed's Outfit Claims Role In Sheikh Hasina's Ouster From Bangladesh