In a surprising turn of events, former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has brought tiny St Martin Island into the global spotlight. She has now claimed that the United States played a part in her removal from power because she refused to hand over control of the island. This bold claim has stirred up debates about what might have really happened behind the scenes.
ET Exclusive: Sheikh Hasina releases speech which she had desired to deliver before her departure on August 5. Blames her refusal to hand over St Martin Island to USA as reason for her ouster. Says her comments on students were distorted — My report @ETPolitics pic.twitter.com/eS4o7lR9uF
— Dipanjan R Chaudhury (@DipanjanET) August 11, 2024
The “Undelivered” Speech
The drama started when an undelivered speech by Sheikh Hasina came to light. Hasina was supposed to deliver this speech before her resignation in Bangladesh, but she had to leave the country at short notice. Hasina requested India for a safe passage which India agreed to. She is currently in a safehouse near the Indian capital of New Delhi.
In this speech, she suggested that her government could have stayed in power if she had agreed to the U.S. demands about St Martin Island. According to Hasina, the real reason for the pressure she faced was the island’s strategic value, and her refusal to give in might have led to her downfall as the country’s leader.
Strategic Importance of St. Martin Island
Despite being small, with an area of just three square kilometers, St. Martin’s Island is located in a very important spot in the northeastern Bay of Bengal, near Myanmar. Its 3,700 residents mainly rely on the island’s natural resources, such as fishing, growing rice, coconut farming, and harvesting seaweed, which is sold to Myanmar.
The island’s strategic location, near major shipping lanes, adds to its geopolitical value, making it a point of interest for not just the US but other regional powers as well.
Some theories suggest that the U.S. might have wanted to set up a military base on St. Martin’s Island, giving them a stronghold in the Bay of Bengal, a region that is becoming more and more important. Such a base could help the U.S. keep an eye on important shipping routes and keep a close watch on China’s activities in the area. If Hasina’s claims are true, it would mean there was a bigger, more complicated plan in place in South Asia, where diplomacy, strategy, and power moves are all mixed together.
As expected, the U.S. State Department quickly denied these explosive allegations, saying that the United States respects Bangladesh’s sovereignty and supports democratic processes through free and fair elections. However, the denial hasn’t stopped people from speculating. Many are now wondering why the U.S. might be interested in this remote island.
St Martin Island: A History of Disputes
St Martin Island has been involved in disputes before. Locally known as ‘Narikel Jinjira’ or Coconut Island, it has a long history of arguments between Bangladesh and Myanmar over who really owns it. In 2012, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) settled a big part of this argument, officially placing the island within Bangladesh’s territorial waters.
Sheikh Hasina’s claims have not only stirred up trouble at home but have also caught the attention of people around the world. The political fallout in Bangladesh has been quick, with opposition parties using this chance to criticize Hasina and her government. They argue that if such an important decision was really being considered, the people of Bangladesh had the right to know.
On the global stage, Hasina’s allegations have sparked discussions. The idea that the U.S. might have been involved in the political situation of a South Asian country over a small pice of land like St Martin Island has raised concerns about how much influence foreign countries have in local politics. It also brings up questions about the true nature of international relations, where strategic interests often come before the principles of sovereignty and non-interference.
