DHAKA, Bangladesh
Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina criticized the US government Thursday over recent police raids on pro-Palestine student protests across US universities.
The US police have arrested hundreds of students this week as university campus administrators seek to repress pro-Palestinian encampments and protests.
The prime minister questioned whether “such a move was part of the US democracy.”
“The biggest thing is that 900 students and teachers have been arrested for staging pro-Palestinian demonstrations. It has happened in the US … it’s a part of (US) democracy, and we have to hear that too,” she told a news conference after her recent Thailand visit that concluded Monday.
“It is a real misfortune to listen to lectures on human rights from the US,” she added.
“Incidents of shooting are happening in schools, shopping malls, and restaurants and people are dying. It seems that there is not one day that people are not killed in America,” Hasina said, adding: “The US should take care of their human rights situation first,” she added.
Reiterating Bangladesh’s firm stand for Palestine, Hasina said, Bangladesh is with Palestine and it will send more humanitarian support to them. “What is happening in Gazi is genocidal,” she said.
The demonstrations on US campuses began on April 17 at Columbia University to protest Israel’s brutal offensive in Gaza which has killed over 34,500 Palestinians and wounded 77,700 others since Oct. 7.
The protests have also served as a flashpoint for the wider movement to protest the US’ unwavering support for Israel’s genocidal war, which was triggered by the Hamas incursion last year that killed around 1,200 people.
