Ousted Bangladeshi PM vows to return – media
The interim government of Bangladesh is run by a “mobster” who has unleashed “terrorists” and fostered “lawlessness” in the country, former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has claimed. Hasina, who was forced to resign in August following massive street protests and has since then lived in exile in India, has promise to return to the Bangladesh and retake power.
Hasina held an online meeting with the widows of four policemen killed during last year’s uprising that led to her ouster, according to Indian media reports. “The killings were part of his meticulous conspiracy to throw me out of power,” she was quoted by NDTV as saying, promising to “return and avenge the deaths of our policemen.”
Hasina fled to India in August 2024 after her government was toppled by weeks of violent, student-led, uprisings. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, a vocal critic of Hasina, was appointed as chief adviser of the caretaker government. His administration’s primary goals have been to restore law and order and to oversee a democratic transition through new elections.
Following Hasina’s departure, multiple criminal cases have been filed against her and members of her government, alleging murder, torture, abduction, crimes against humanity, and genocide. The interim administration in Dhaka has demanded that India extradite Hasina so she can face trial back home. New Delhi has not formally responded to the requests.
During the Zoom meeting with the widows of the policemen, Hasina reportedly claimed that she narrowly escaped an assassination attempt when her government was overthrown and said that by the “grace of God,” she was kept alive.
In response to Hasina’s remarks, the government in Dhaka reiterated its demand to bring her back to Bangladesh. According to Shafiqul Alam, Yunus’ spokesperson, extraditing Hasina to stand trial in person remains the government’s top priority. “We have formally requested India for her extradition. Our efforts will continue. We want her to be brought back and tried in person,” he was quoted by the Dhaka Tribune as saying.
Yunus last week stated that he would not allow key figures from the ousted Sheikh Hasina regime to escape punishment. “We’ll bring her (Hasina) to justice. It has to happen; otherwise, people will not forgive us,” he told The National newspaper.
Bangladesh’s foreign ministry has previously stated that Hasina’s statements are “hurting the people’s sentiments in Bangladesh” and summoned India’s top diplomat in Dhaka over statements made by Hasina from New Delhi, which were deemed “false and provocative.”
Hasina is the daughter of Bangladeshi independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who is considered the “father of the nation.” His former residence was burned down buy a mob on February 5. The Indian foreign ministry’s spokesperson termed the incident “regrettable” and added that the residence was a symbol of the “heroic resistance” of the people of Bangladesh who won their independence from Pakistan in 1971.
