Various press reports quote former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as saying she could have remained prime minister if she had agreed to "surrender" the sovereignty of Saint Martin Island and "allow American influence over the Bay of Bengal." The report added that officials in Dhaka dismissed the accusation.
In an undelivered speech from India, which Hasina visited on August 5 as her homeland was plunged into bloody chaos, the 76-year-old leader said her resignation was to avert a "procession of dead bodies".
The speech was never delivered after protests escalated and Hasina was forced to flee the country.
Hasina condemned the attacks against her party, the Awami League, but said she was confident of returning home to Bangladesh soon. She said she would pray for the future of the nation.
Hasina, in her speech, said, "I chose to resign to avoid seeing the dead bodies paraded before me. They sought power through the deaths of students, but I refused to let that happen. I could have stayed in power if I had compromised the sovereignty of Saint Martin Island and allowed American dominance over the Bay of Bengal. I want my people not to be swayed by the extremists."
She added, "Had I remained there, lives of many more would have been lost and resources back home ravaged. I took the painful decision to resign as you elected me to lead and you are my strength.
Earlier in May, Hasina claimed there were "conspiracies" to topple her government and indicated a "white man's" scheme was underway to establish a new "Christian country" involving Bangladesh.
Ms. Hasina also said that letting a foreign country have an airbase in Bangladesh would have been a tolerable compromise for her to stay in office.
The demonstrations, which began by demanding quota reforms in government jobs, snowballed into a mass movement against her rule, forcing her to step down. More than 400 people have been killed in the violence since mid-July.
After Hasina left for India, Nobel laureate and microfinance pioneer Muhammad Yunus took charge as head of an interim government and vowed to restore peace and protect Hindus and other minorities.
With massive students demonstrations at all universities for judicial reforms, chief justice Obaidul Hassan resigned along with five other judges of the apex court on Saturday.
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