Bangladesh ex-PM Hasina says ban on her party should be lifted

WEB DESK: Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday demanded the lifting of restrictions on her Awami League party and reiterated her plan to return to the country in December, posing a challenge to the government led by her political rivals.

Speaking at a media interaction hosted by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of South Asia in New Delhi, Hasina said she remained determined to return to Bangladesh despite the risk of facing imprisonment or other consequences.

She said her political struggle would continue and called for the restoration of the Awami League’s activities.

“I will return to my people,” Hasina said, adding that she would reveal the exact date and details of her return when the time was right.

“I know that they may put me in jail or they may kill me, anything may happen, but still I have to go back,” she said.

The event, held on the second anniversary of her 2024 ouster, was Hasina’s first media interaction since she fled Bangladesh. Although she had been expected to appear by video, she delivered only an audio message from behind a blank screen. It was not immediately clear why she did not appear on camera, unlike several Awami League leaders and her son, who spoke earlier.

Bangladesh’s foreign ministry later in the day criticised the event, calling it “an affront to the sovereignty of Bangladesh” in a post on X.

“Allowing her the opportunity to openly interact with the media under any pretext is deeply hurtful,” it said, adding that “Bangladesh is outraged.”

Hasina, 78, told Reuters in an interview last month that she plans to return to Bangladesh by the end of the year and surrender to authorities there.

She fled Dhaka two years ago after protests ended her 20 years as prime minister across multiple terms.

The country’s war-crimes court sentenced her to death in her absence in November 2025 for ordering a deadly crackdown on the student-led uprising. Hasina has denied the charges, calling the cases and verdicts politically motivated and fabricated.

The government of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman – which took office after elections in February – warned the country’s media on Tuesday not to publish her statements, saying that doing so would violate a 2024 court order that prohibits the publishing or broadcasting of her speeches and statements.

There was no media coverage of the event in Bangladesh, though it was available on social media. It was not immediately clear how many people watched the address, although many Bangladeshis shared links to the speech and commented on it across social media.

Protests in Dhaka

While Hasina spoke, protesters in Dhaka burned an effigy of her. She alleged that the anti-government protests evolved from a movement over public sector job quotas into a coordinated campaign driven by organised violence, covert direction and propaganda aimed at removing her government from power and undermining the constitutional order.

Hasina also said Bangladesh’s economy had deteriorated sharply since her removal from office, alleging that growth had slowed, investment and job creation had weakened, and that more than 20 million people had become unemployed, while economic gains made during her tenure were being reversed.

The government has declared August 5 a public holiday in honour of those who were killed during the student-led uprising.

There was no immediate comment from the government in response to Hasina’s latest remarks.

Dhaka has repeatedly asked for Hasina’s extradition from India. New Delhi has said that it is in receipt of the request and that it is being examined.

Relations between the neighbours have remained strained since her ouster, although both sides have recently signalled a willingness to improve ties. Allowing Hasina to openly speak to the media is “detrimental” to the development of bilateral relations between Bangladesh and India, Bangladesh’s foreign ministry said.