New Delhi and Dhaka: Sheikh Hasina, who used to be the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, has said she won’t go home until a “legitimate government” is created. For now, she will stay in India. The 78-year-old leader of the Awami League, who is in exile in New Delhi, told Reuters that millions of her party’s supporters will not vote in next year’s national elections since the Awami League was not allowed to run.
In August 2024, Hasina fled to India after a student-led uprising forced her out of office after 15 years.
Hasina Criticizes the Ban on the Awami League
Since Hasina was ousted, an interim administration led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has been in charge of Bangladesh. The government expects to hold elections in February 2026.
Hasina claimed in emails that “the ban on the Awami League is not only unfair, it is also self-defeating.” This was her first public statement since she was removed from office.
“The next government must be elected fairly. The Awami League has the support of millions of people, thus they won’t vote right now. If you want a political system that works, you can’t take away the right to vote from millions of people.
The Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) have been rivals for a long time in Bangladesh, which has more than 126 million registered voters. Many people think the BNP would win the next elections because the Election Commission stopped the Awami League from registering in May.
The Yunus-led government also stopped all party activities because they were worried about national security and were looking into war crimes by high-ranking Awami League leaders.
Hasina went on to say, “We are not asking Awami League voters to vote for other parties.” “We still hope that common sense will win out and we will be able to run for office ourselves.”
Going to Court Without Being Present
The International Crimes Tribunal has finished its case against Hasina, who is accused of crimes against humanity for cracking down on student protests from July 15 to August 5, 2024.
According to a United Nations investigation, up to 1,400 people died and many more were hurt during the riots, mostly from shooting by security forces. This was the deadliest violence in Bangladesh since 1971.
Hasina has disputed all of the accusations, calling the tribunal a “politically motivated charade.”
She remarked, “These cases have been brought by kangaroo courts, and guilty verdicts are a foregone conclusion.” “I didn’t get much notice or a real chance to defend myself.”
There will be a decision on November 13.
“Not About Me or My Family”
Despite her exile, Hasina expressed hope that the Awami League would eventually restore its place in Bangladesh’s political landscape – either in administration or opposition.
Sajeeb Wazed, her son who lives in Washington, told Reuters before that he may think about running the party if asked.
Hasina stated, “It’s not really about me or my family.” “For Bangladesh to get to the future we all want, it needs to go back to following the constitution and having stable politics. No one person or family can say what will happen to our country in the future.
Hasina’s father and three brothers were killed in a military coup in 1975. She says she feels safe in Delhi, but she is nonetheless careful because of her family’s tragic past.
“I would love to go home, of course, as long as the government there was real, the constitution was being followed, and law and order really did exist,” she said.
Things are calm again, but tensions are still high.
When Hasina left in 2024, there was targeted violence against Awami League members, but things have since calmed down.
But there were also fights earlier this month during the signing of a charter for state reform, which showed how fragile the country’s stability is before the elections.