Bangladesh’s interim government on Sunday expressed shock about former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina being allowed to virtually address a press conference in Delhi, saying that the event set a “dangerous precedent” for the future of the country’s bilateral ties with India.
In a statement, Dhaka said that Hasina had “openly called for the removal” of the interim government and issued “blatant incitements to her party loyalists and general public to carry out acts of terror” to derail the upcoming national elections in Bangladesh.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs has not commented yet on Dhaka’s statement.
In her first address to the media since her ouster in August 2024, Hasina on Friday accused Muhammad Yunus, the head of the country’s interim government, of being a “murderous fascist”. She also called for a United Nations investigation into the unrest and political developments in Bangladesh since her government collapsed.
The former prime minister’s comments were made in an audio speech played during a press conference held at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of South Asia in Delhi. The speech came ahead of the general elections scheduled for February 12, the first since she was ousted.
Hasina had fled to India in August 2024 after several weeks of widespread student-led protests against her Awami League government. She had been in power for 16 years.
After her ouster, Nobel laureate economist Yunus took over as the head of Bangladesh’s interim government.
On Sunday, the Bangladeshi foreign ministry said that it was “deeply aggrieved” that while India had not acted on Dhaka’s request to extradite Hasina, the former prime minister had been “allowed to make such inciteful pronouncements from its own soil”.
“This clearly endangers Bangladesh’s democratic transition and peace and security,” the ministry claimed.
Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal in November sentenced Hasina to death for crimes against humanity in connection with the deadly crackdown on the protesters in 2024.
In December, Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that it was for Hasina to decide whether she wanted to return to Bangladesh.
The Indian government allowing the press event to take place in the national capital and letting “mass murderer Hasina to openly deliver her hate speech” was against the norms of bilateral relations, including the principles of respect for sovereignty and non-interference, Dhaka alleged.
This constituted “a clear affront” to the people and the government of Bangladesh, it added.
“It sets a dangerous precedent vis-à-vis the future of Bangladesh-India relations and may seriously impair the ability of the future elected polity in Bangladesh to engage, shape and nurture mutually beneficial bilateral relations,” the statement added.
The Bangladeshi foreign ministry said that the “unabashed incitements” by the Awami League leadership demonstrated why the Yunus government had banned it. It added that it would hold Hasina’s party responsible for “violence and terror” in the run-up to and during the polls.
In May, the interim government banned all activities of the Awami League, including its online platforms, under the country’s anti-terrorism act.
Hasina had in October described the ban as unjust and said that it could undermine the legitimacy of the elections. She also warned that millions of her supporters would boycott the polls unless her party is allowed to participate.
Hasina’s speech
On Friday, Hasina said that the UN should “conduct a new and truly impartial investigation into the events of the past year”. Only the “purification of truth” would allow Bangladesh to reconcile and move forward, she said.
Hasina alleged that Bangladesh had entered “an age of terror”, claiming that press freedom had been “extinguished”, religious minorities faced continued persecution, and law and order had collapsed.
She also called on Dhaka to “stop intimidating” journalists, Opposition parties and members of her Awami League, and “restore trust in the judicial system”.
Hasina claimed that the unrest in 2024 had been “meticulously engineered by Yunus and his accomplices” to oust her. After the collapse of her government, the frenzy of militant extremism has caused fear across the nation, Hasina alleged.
The former prime minister claimed that there had been a “treacherous plot” to give away Bangladeshi territory and resources to foreign interests, alleging that Yunus had betrayed the nation.
Also read: For Hindutva groups, Bangladesh is the new Pakistan
You’ve read Scroll.
Now help sustain it
Scroll is funded by readers, not corporate owners. If you believe our work matters, support our newsroom. Become a member today!
We’re not driven by clicks or corporate interests – just honest, independent reporting. Keep us going. Support Scroll today!