New Delhi: Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina spoke virtually in Delhi, announcing that she would be going back to Bangladesh. In the address which was transmitted in Delhi’s Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC), the former prime minister stated that she was determined to return to Bangladesh despite the fact that she may be “killed and detained” by the present government. She did not announce a date by when she would leave or what legal precautions she would take on landing in Dhaka.
“Whatever fate awaits me, I will return to my people,” she said. “I cannot stay away while my beloved countrymen are suffering. I may be detained in prison. They may try to enforce verdicts issued in fabricated cases, but fear cannot decide my duty to the people.”
The Bangladeshi government has banned Sheikh Hasina’s address from being heard in the country.
Seeking about the student’ protests that took place that finally led to her ouster in 2024, Hasina said that the protests were a front for regime change. “Let me tell you the truth about July-August 2024. It was not a peaceful student movement. It was not a spontaneous student protest,” she said in an emotional address that saw her breaking down at one point. “Genuine students were emotionally manipulated, while organised groups used their movement s cover for violence and regime change.”
The former prime minister said that she sought to investigate acts of violence that had been conducted during the protests but had been prevented from doing by the interim government. “On August 1 (2024) I strengthened the inquiry into a three-member commission, so that the investigation would be credible and comprehensive,” she said. “But after seizing power, the illegal interim government led by (Bangladesh’s interim leader) Muhammad Yunus stopped the investigation. They did not allow the truth to come out. They gave indemnity to those who were involved in the killings.”
Hasina also stated that the international community needed to stand with Bangladesh in its hour of need as not doing so would affect peace and security in the region. “A stable Bangladesh matters for South Asia, for the Bay of Bengal, for development partners and for all countries that believe in democracy, rule of law and justice,” she said.
The former prime minister insisted that her return to Bangladesh was not about a bid to return to power. “My return and the return of my family to the democratic process is not about power,” she said. “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.
