Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Friday delivered a scathing indictment of the current situation in her country, claiming Bangladesh is “bleeding” and standing “on the edge of an abyss” under the interim government led by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus.
Addressing an event in New Delhi via an online audio message, Hasina — who has been living in exile in the Indian capital since fleeing Dhaka in August 2024 — said the nation born out of the 1971 Liberation War was now being torn apart by “extremist communal forces and foreign perpetrators”.
“Bangladesh stands today at the edge of an abyss, a nation battered and bleeding, navigating one of the most perilous chapters in its history,” Hasina said, according to ANI. She described the country as having turned into “a vast prison, an execution ground, a valley of death”.
‘Monstrous onslaught’ on Bangladesh
Invoking the legacy of her father, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the former prime minister said the homeland he led to independence had been reduced to a “wounded, blood-soaked landscape”.
“Our once serene and fertile land has been ravaged by the monstrous onslaught of extremist communal forces,” she said, adding that fear, violence and despair now dominate daily life across Bangladesh.
Sharp attack on Muhammad Yunus
Hasina launched a blistering personal attack on Muhammad Yunus, accusing him of orchestrating her removal from power and plunging the country into chaos.
Calling Yunus a “murderous fascist,” she alleged he was a “usurer, money launderer, plunderer and corrupt, power-hungry traitor” who had “bled the nation dry”.
“On August 5, 2024, in a meticulously engineered conspiracy, the national enemy Yunus and his anti-state militant accomplices forcibly ousted me, though I am the people’s representative directly elected,” she claimed.
According to Hasina, democracy in Bangladesh has since been pushed into exile, replaced by “merciless and suffocating terror”.
Claims of lawlessness and minority persecution
The Awami League chief further alleged widespread lawlessness, mob violence, looting and persecution of minorities, warning that institutions had weakened and justice had eroded across the country.
“The nation is witnessing insecurity, extremism and betrayal of national interests,” she said, calling for unity to defend the Constitution, restore democracy and resist what she termed an “unelected and violent regime”.
Hasina’s Awami League has been barred from contesting the upcoming national elections scheduled for February 12, with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) emerging as the frontrunner.
Hasina targets BNP
In a separate audio message shared on the Awami League’s Facebook page, Hasina accused the BNP of hypocrisy, saying she had never banned the party and had even invited its late leader Khaleda Zia to contest elections together in 2014.
Referring to the controversial 2024 elections, she said the BNP had boycotted the polls despite repeated efforts to bring them on board.
“They cannot show a single irregularity, violence or killing at any polling centre,” Hasina claimed, alleging that Yunus was using money to spread global “propaganda and disinformation”.