(MENAFN- Live Mint) Describing India as a "steadfast ally", former Bangladesh Prime Minister on Friday raised concerns about growing extremism under Muhammad Yunus' regime, saying that it threatened to derail Dhaka's ties with New Delhi.

Speaking to Hindustan Times over email, the self-exiled former PM said, "India has always been a steadfast ally and friend to Bangladesh. But today's chaos and degraded decision-making are not what India expects from us."

"Yunus' sponsorship of extremists in his government undoubtedly threatens to undermine that fundamental relationship, to the detriment of both our nations," she added.

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Opening up on what she described as a growing wave of extremism and religious intolerance in Bangladesh, Hasina went on to say that when she was in power, her government had worked hard to contain extremist forces.

"Today, the streets of Dhaka are no longer safe and millions of ordinary Bangladeshis live in fear of leaving their homes. We have already seen the spread of radical Islamist ideology across our country, whether in the form of physical violence against minority religious groups or members of the Awami League, or in the repression and exclusion of women and girls from public life," the former PM said.

Hasina also spoke on New Delhi's concerns about the rights of Hindus' in Bangladesh, calling the wave of violence against religious minorities a "disgrace".

"During our time in power, we were proud of our commitment to upholding religious tolerance and secularism," the Awami League leader said.

"The wave of religious violence that tore through our country in the first weeks of Yunus' rule was disgraceful. So too is Yunus' consistent denial of the violence that still targets Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, indigenous communities and other minority religious groups to this day," she added.

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The former PM also lamented the erosion of democracy in Bangladesh, commenting on the Yunus' government's ban on the Awami League and the party's ouster from the upcoming elections in February.

Saying that the Awami League had been voted to power nine times, Hasina deplored the move by the Yunus government to ban it under the country's anti-terrorism act.

Calling the move a violation of Bangladesh's Constitution and a black mark on the democratic rights of its 173 million people, Hasina said,“There can be no hope for democracy when the country's oldest and most popular party is banned from participating.”

“Millions of ordinary Bangladeshis will be disenfranchised if this ban is upheld. If they cannot vote for their preferred party, they will not vote at all. Bangladesh will have missed its chance to install a government genuinely ruling by consent. That would be a tragedy,” she said.

Bangladesh has elections scheduled for February, which will be the first since the crisis of 2024. With the Awami League banned, the election is slated to be contested between several alliances, namely the BNP+, Jamaat-e-Islami+, NCP+, the Grand Alliance, and the Left Democratic Alliance.

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