• Source:JND
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Leaders of Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), the front organisation for Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and led by UN-sanctioned terrorist Hafiz Saeed, have publicly claimed a role in the political upheaval that led to the ouster of Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024. The statements, which appear to celebrate Hasina’s fall as an act of “revenge for 1971,” were made in provocative speeches delivered this week in Pakistan’s Punjab province.

At a rally in Allahabad near Rahim Yar Khan, JuD leader Saifullah Kasuri addressed supporters. Referring to Pakistan’s loss in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, he said, “We have taken revenge for 1971,” while referencing May 10, the day Hasina was forced from power. Kasuri added, “I was four years old when Pakistan was dismembered in 1971. The then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi said she had drowned the two-nation theory in the Bay of Bengal. On May 10, we reversed that.” Kasuri’s reference was to the 1971 Liberation War, when Bangladesh gained independence after Pakistan surrendered in Dhaka to Indian forces and Bangladeshi freedom fighters.

Denied Role In Pahalgam Attack

Kasuri’s speech also included a reference to Mudassar, a JuD member allegedly killed in an Indian airstrike on Muridke, JuD's headquarters, after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir, which claimed 26 lives. He recounted how he was not allowed to attend Mudassar’s funeral, despite it being widely broadcast and attended by senior officials from the military and police. Denying any role in the Pahalgam attack, Kasuri claimed India had blamed him for orchestrating it and vowed to continue preparing the next generation “for jihad.”

Muzammil Hashmi, another JuD figure and a UN-designated terrorist, echoed Kasuri’s sentiments in a separate address. Hashmi linked the political chaos in Bangladesh and the student-led protests that culminated in Hasina’s ouster to a broader strategy of vengeance. 

Sheikh Hasina's Ouster 

After being removed from power on August 5, 2024, Sheikh Hasina fled to India. Three days later, Muhammad Yunus was sworn in as the Chief Adviser of the interim government in Dhaka. The abrupt political shift marked a dramatic change in Bangladesh’s internal and foreign affairs. Diplomatic ties between Pakistan and Bangladesh have warmed significantly following Hasina’s departure.