Journalism of Courage
Ousted former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina has said she will only return to the country once “participatory democracy” is restored, the ban on her Awami League lifted, and free, fair and inclusive elections are guaranteed.
In an email interview with PTI from an undisclosed location in India, Hasina accused the unelected administration led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus of “endangering ties with India and empowering extremist forces”.
“The most important condition for my return to Bangladesh is the same condition that the Bangladeshi people require: a return to participatory democracy,” Hasina said. “The interim administration must rescind its ban on the Awami League and allow elections that are free, fair, and inclusive.”
Hasina, 78, fled to India on August 5, 2024, after weeks of violent protests forced her resignation. Her departure paved the way for Yunus to head the interim government.
While acknowledging that her administration “lost control” of the situation during the unrest, Hasina blamed what she called “so-called student leaders — actually seasoned political firebrands” for escalating the violence.
Rejecting speculation that she had called for a boycott of next year’s elections, she insisted that any vote without the Awami League would lack legitimacy. “Tens of millions of people support us. Whether in government or in opposition, the Awami League needs to be part of the political conversation in Bangladesh,” she said.
Hasina expressed deep gratitude to India for granting her refuge. “I am immensely grateful to India’s government and its people for their kind hospitality,” she said, adding that India “has always been Bangladesh’s most important international relationship.”
She accused Yunus’s administration of jeopardising that relationship through “foolish and self-defeating” policies. “Yunus’ hostility to India is foolish and self-defeating in the extreme,” Hasina said. “He is an unelected, chaotic, weak monarch dependent on the support of extremists.”
To Indians concerned about the current political turmoil in Bangladesh, Hasina offered reassurance: “The interim government doesn’t represent what our countrymen and women think. India is and will remain our nation’s most important friend.”
Hasina said she is ready to stand trial under international supervision, “even at the International Criminal Court,” while accusing Yunus of avoiding a similar process. “Yunus continues to duck this challenge because he knows that the ICC, a genuinely impartial tribunal, would certainly acquit me,” she claimed.
She dismissed Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal, which has initiated proceedings against her and where prosecutors are seeking the death penalty, as a “kangaroo tribunal” controlled by political opponents. “They are trying to neutralise both me and the Awami League as political forces. The fact that they would use the death penalty to suppress their opponents reveals how little respect they have for democracy or due process,” she said.
Hasina also claimed Yunus enjoyed “the passive support of some western liberals” who wrongly saw him as one of their own. “Now that they have seen him place radicals in his cabinet, discriminate against minorities, and dismantle the constitution, hopefully they are withdrawing their support,” she said.
