Bangladesh in ‘grip of fear’, says former PM Hasina promising return to country by year-end

New Delhi: Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday said that the South Asian country’s situation has worsened over the last two years with people continuing to live in an atmosphere of fear, insecurity and economic distress despite the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) assuming office following, what she described as, a “rigged election”.

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi via an audio link, Hasina, who has been living in exile in India for the past two years, also said that she would return to her home country by the year-end.

“Even after a rigged election brought the BNP to power, the situation did not change. Bangladesh remains in the grip of fear, terror, depression, economic hardship and deep insecurity,” said Hasina in her address to the media in New Delhi.

Hasina broke down several times during her address. Recalling the events of the past two years, the former Bangladesh PM said she has watched her “beloved Bangladesh suffer”. Accusing organised groups of exploiting the July-August 2024 student protests to serve a political agenda, she claimed the movement was not a peaceful campaign for reform but was transformed into a tool for violence.

“For the last two years, I watched my beloved Bangladesh suffer… This is not the Bangladesh we built; this is not the Bangladesh for which three million people sacrificed their lives in 1971. Let me begin with the truth about July and August 2024. It was not a peaceful student movement. From the beginning, my government tried to resolve the issue peacefully through dialogue, legal process, and patience. But behind the language of reform, organised groups were working to turn students’ demands into violent political instruments.”

Hasina said her government had attempted to resolve the protests through dialogue and legal means, alleging that the quota reform movement was deliberately converted into a campaign demanding her resignation.

“I personally took the initiative for dialogue with the students and invited them to Gonobhaban, the Prime Minister’s residence. Three ministers also held discussions with them. A quota reform movement was turned into a one-point demand for my resignation. False propaganda was spread in a planned way. Genuine students were emotionally manipulated while organised groups used their movement as cover for violence and regime change,” the former PM mentioned.

Hasina claimed that Chief Advisor to Bangladesh’s interim government, Muhammad Yunus’s own description of the July 2024 protests being a “meticulously designed movement led by a mastermind” revealed the organised nature of the unrest.

“Muhammad Yunus himself said this was a meticulously designed movement led by a mastermind. His own words expose the truth. It was not simply a spontaneous student protest. There was no visible or responsible leadership. Instructions were given invisibly. It was organised, directed, and used to create a path to power outside the ballot box. From July 15, the character of the movement changed. Killings, arson, attacks, and looting began. State property was destroyed,” she stated.

Hasina alleged widespread political persecution over the last two years, claiming that at least 10,000 people have been killed or disappeared, and 6.5 lakh have been arrested over the last two years, and 3500 cases have been filed. She mentioned that nearly 4.5 lakh leaders, workers, and supporters of Awami League had been named as accused, while more than one million others have been listed as unnamed accused. Hasina claimed that more than six hundred cases have been filed against her.

“Women activists of Chhatra League, a student organisation, youth league, other affiliated organisations are facing abuse, humiliation, torture in custody. Many leaders and workers have also died in prison amid documented accounts of torture, denial of medical treatment, deprivation of food, negligence, and denial of basic rights,” she added.

Highlighting that the atrocities had extended beyond the Awami League members, she said, “Members of the minority community, judges, lawyers, intellectuals, cultural figures, journalists, professionals, workers, even rickshaw pullers, farmers, ordinary citizens have been attacked, arrested, or accused in murder cases.”

Stressing that no one who stands for the spirit of the Bangladesh 1971 Liberation War is safe, she alleged that symbols and memorials of the Liberation War have been destroyed, while freedom fighters have been humiliated with “garland of shoes”.

“This is an attempt to erase the spirit of the Liberation War from Bangladesh. Muhammad Yunus himself spoke of pressing a reset button to wipe away the country’s previous history. They want to erase the Liberation War, they want to erase Bangabandhu, they want to rewrite Bangladesh against the foundation on which it was born,” the former PM said.

Hasina added that she wanted to return to her home country to revive its path of progress.

“The date of my return will be announced later. But I will return to my people,” she said.

She also demanded that the ban on her party, the Bangladesh Awami League, be lifted, false cases against her and her partymen be dropped, and freedom of speech be restored in Bangladesh.

Concluding her address, Hasina said she wished to return to Bangladesh because people deserve security, development, prosperity, and peace.

“They deserve a state that protects them, an economy that gives them opportunity, and a democracy that gives them rights. My return and the return of the Awami League to the democratic process is not about power. It is about putting Bangladesh back on the right track. It is about reviving the country’s path of development, progress, secularism, and stability. I want to return to Bangladesh for one purpose: to stand beside the people and help improve their lives. The people are the source of all power. I believe in them, I trust them, I love them, and I will return to them,” she noted

IANS