Bangladesh’s ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday opened up about the country’s national election next year, the Awami League party, charges of crimes against humanity, and her plans to return home.
The 78-year-old leader fled from Dhaka in August last year after the deadly student-led protests against a civil service quota system in Bangladesh. Since her ouster, an interim government led by Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus has been governing the country and has pledged to hold national elections in February 2027.
While Hasina has sent out messages via social media, this is the first time since her dramatic ouster from power after 15 consecutive years at the centre of Bangladeshi politics that she has interacted with the media.
Living ‘freely’ in Delhi
As crowds stormed her palace in Dhaka amid the growing violence and protests in August last year, Sheikh Hasina fled the country by helicopter and fled to India.
Ever since then, she has been living in New Delhi. She said she lives freely in India’s capital but remains cautious considering her family’s violent history.
Hasina’s father and three brothers were killed in a 1975 military coup while she and sister were abroad.
The former PM has said the Awami League would eventually return to play a role in Bangladesh’s politics and future, whether in government or opposition, adding that her family need not lead it.
“It’s not really about me or my family. For Bangladesh to achieve the future we all want, there must be a return to constitutional rule and political stability. No single person or family defines our country’s future,” Hasina said.
Her son and adviser Sajeeb Wazed, who lives in Washington, told Reuters last year that he might consider leading the Awami League if asked.
Hasina was reportedly seen taking a quiet stroll through Delhi’s Lodhi Garden a few months ago, accompanied by two individuals who seemed to be her personal security detail.
“I would of course love to go home, so long as the government there was legitimate, the constitution was being upheld, and law and order genuinely prevailed,” Hasina said.
‘If Awami League doesn’t contest…’
Sheikh Hasina said that if her Awami League party is not allowed to contest the 2026 elections, then millions of its supporters will boycott the polls.
“The ban on the Awami League is not only unjust, it is self-defeating,” Hasina told Reuters. She said that Dhaka’s next government must have electoral legitimacy.
“Millions of people support the Awami League, so as things stand, they will not vote. You cannot disenfranchise millions of people if you want a political system that works,” she added.
The Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party have long dominated the country’s politics. In a country with more than 126 million registered voters, the BNP is widely expected to win the next year’s polls.
Earlier, the Yunus-led government barred the Awami League from all party activities, citing national security threats and war crimes investigations into senior leaders of the group.
In May this year, the country’s Election Commission suspended the Awami League’s registration. Hasina said, “We are not asking Awami League voters to support other parties. We still hope common sense will prevail and we will be allowed to contest the election ourselves.”
However, she did not mention whether any back-channel talks were being held by her or her representative with the Bangladeshi authorities to let the Awami League contest in the election.
2024 protests & crimes against humanity
Sheikh Hasina has been hailed for transforming Bangladesh’s economy, but at the same time has been accused of human rights abuses. Following her fourth consecutive victory in general polls last year, the opposition, whose leaders were either jailed or in exile, boycotted the election.
Bangladesh’s domestic war crimes court, the International Crimes Tribunal, has concluded proceedings against her on charges of crimes against humanity over the violent crackdown on protesting students in 2024.
According to a report from the United Nations, up to 1,400 people may have been killed during the protests between July 15 and August 5, 2024, with thousands of others injured, mostly from security forces’ gunfire.
Prosecutors also alleged that she oversaw the enforced disappearances and torture of opposition activists through security agencies-run secret detention centres. A verdict on her case is expected on November 13.
Hasina denies charges
The ousted former prime minister denied the charges and said that she was not personally involved in the use of lethal force or other alleged crimes. “These proceedings are a politically motivated charade,” Hasina said.
She added that the charges have been brought by kangaroo courts, “with guilty verdicts a foregone conclusion”.
“I was mostly denied prior notice or a meaningful opportunity to defend myself,” Hasina stated.