
NEW DELHI: A voice note from former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, detailing how she and her sister Rehana narrowly escaped death when they fled the country last August, has been shared online by her Awami League party.
In the recording, the 77-year-old leader’s voice trembles as she expresses gratitude to Allah for sparing her life. She goes on to accuse her political opponents of conspiring to have her killed.
She said: “Rehana and I survived—just 20-25 minutes apart, we escaped death,” adding that the alleged assassination attempt last year was not the first such plot against her life. The former Prime Minister also alleged that there have been multiple attempts throughout her life to eliminate her.
Reflecting on the close calls she has had, Hasina said: “I just feel that surviving the killings on August 21 or surviving the huge bomb in Kotalipara, surviving this time on August 5, 2024, must be the will of Allah. Otherwise, I wouldn't have survived. You later saw how they planned to kill me.”
She continued, “However, it seems to be the mercy of Allah that I am still alive because Allah wants me to do something more.”
In her message, Hasina shared her emotional thoughts on her exile in India, saying, “Although I am suffering, I am without my country, without my home, everything has been burned.”
The 77-year-old leader, who fled to India after the protests, which were alleged to have opposition backing, overwhelmed Dhaka, claimed that over 600 people were killed and hundreds injured in the unrest, with protesters demanding her resignation.
According to Tajul Islam, the chief prosecutor of Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), a Bangladeshi court on January issued a second arrest warrant for Hasina, accusing her of involvement in enforced disappearances. Hasina already faces an arrest warrant for alleged “crimes against humanity” during her 15-year tenure as prime minister.
The chief prosecutor alleged that over 500 individuals were abducted by security forces and some were held in secret facilities for years. In December, Bangladesh requested India to send Hasina back to face trial, but Delhi has yet to respond to the extradition request, which was made through an unsigned diplomatic note sent to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs on December 23.