Sheikh Hasina dares Bangla govt

NO STOPPING HER: Sheikh Hasina told CNN-IBN the government first wanted her to come back.

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New Delhi: The military-backed interim government in Bangladesh on Wednesday banned former prime minister Sheikh Hasina from entering the country.

Hasina, who was to return from the US on April 23, was banned for her "provocative and inflammatory" statements against the government and law enforcement agencies. A Home Ministry statement in Dhaka said the “measure is temporary”.

“On her return home she may continue to make provocative statements like before and try to create irritation in public mind and mislead the people," the statement said. The step was being taken to maintain law and order, stability, public security and economic life.

Hasina told CNN-IBN said the interim government "did not want a democratic government to survive in the country".

"I am surprised that after filing a case against me they now want to ban my entry. I want to face the charges in the court of my country. I will go back to my country. Last week, the caretaker government had communicated to me and requested me to come back few days later. I don't think they want a democratic government to survive in the country," she told CNN-IBN

The government has set up a task force to probe graft charges against Hasina, chief of the Awami League party, and charged her in the murders of four supporters of a rival party during street violence in Dhaka in October 2006.

The government has also asked her political rival, former Prime Minister and BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia to go in exile in Saudi Arabia by April 22.

The government press statement said airport and port authorities in Bangladesh have been informed about the ban on Hasina.

The statement followed several days of media reports that the interim government has been pressuring Hasina and Khaleda to go into exile.

(With AP)

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