‘Organised groups turned students’ stir into violent protest,’ says Sheikh Hasina

Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina addressed her first live international press conference virtually from India since her ouster and exile, and said that the violence that upstaged her government was orchestrated and organised groups worked to turn the students’ demands into violent political instrument.

It was not a peaceful student movement but an organised political campaign aimed at regime change, she said while referring to the July-August 2024 nationwide demonstrations in Bangladesh.

“It was not a peaceful student protest. Organised groups were working to turn students’ demands into violent political instrument,” said Hasina.

‘Bangladesh is suffering since last two years’

She said that Bangladesh is suffering since the last two years.

”For the last two years, I watched my beloved Bangladesh suffer. This is not the Bangladesh we built; this is not the Bangladesh for which 3 million people sacrificed their lives in 1971. Let me begin with the truth about July and August 2024. It was not a peaceful student movement. From the beginning, my government tried to resolve the issue peacefully through dialogue, legal process, and patience. But behind the language of reform, organised groups were working to turn students’ demands into a violent political instrument.”

She said the quota reform movement was turned into a one-point demand for her resignation. "False propaganda was spread in a planned way. Genuine students were emotionally manipulated, while organised groups used their movement as cover for violence and regime change,” Hasina added.

‘Yunus himself said it was a meticulously designed movement’

She added, “Muhammad Yunus himself said this was a meticulously designed movement, led by a mastermind. His own words expose the truth. It was not simply a spontaneous student protest. There was no visible or responsible leadership, instructions were given invisibly; it was organised, directed and used to create a path to power outside ballot box.”

Hasina said now there is fear in homes, workplaces and campuses and added that this was not the Bangladesh that was envisioned after the Liberation War.

“I am the daughter of father of the nation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman”

“...I speak as someone who has spent her life with the people of Bangladesh and was forced away from my country, but I was never separated from my people,” she added.

Hasina said after the regime change, Awami League leaders and workers faced widespread political persecution, and thousands were killed, disappeared or arrested while hundreds of thousands were booked in criminal cases.

Accuses Yunus govt of halting probe into 2024 violence

Sheikh Hasina also accused the interim administration led by Muhammad Yunus of halting a judicial inquiry set up by her government into the violence.

She said her government had set up a judicial inquiry commission on July 18, 2024, to investigate every death and incident of violence during the unrest, but the interim administration led by Muhammad Yunus halted the investigation after taking power.

She further alleged that an indemnity was granted to those involved in the violence, asking, "If they truly wanted justice, why did they stop the inquiry?"

‘They tried to erase the legacy of Liberation War’

Hasina said all symbols associated with Bangladesh’s 1971 Liberation War were vandalised, members of minority communities targeted, and the historic Dhanmondi 32 residence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman demolished to erase the legacy of the Liberation War.

Hasina said she would return to Bangladesh despite the cases against her. She said she would return to Bangladesh despite the risks of being detained or imprisoned and that fear would not stop her from fulfilling her duty to the people of Bangladesh.

“Whatever fate awaits me, I will return to my people. I cannot stay away while my beloved countrymen are suffering… I want to go back in the month of December,” she said.

‘They may kill me, put me in jail’

‘They may kill me, put me in jail… I know I may get detained, I may be sent to prison, they may try to force politically motivated fabricated cases, but fear cannot decide my duty to the people. My life went beyond calculations of personal safety long ago,” Hasina said.

She said her return was not about power but about restoring security, development, prosperity, and peace, and putting Bangladesh “back on the right track.”

Hasina demanded that the ban on her Awami League party be lifted, its leaders be released and legal cases against party members be withdrawn.

The event was organised by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club (FCC) South Asia at the Sir Mark Tully Auditoriumi in New Delhi.