Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday vowed to return to Bangladesh despite facing multiple criminal cases, asserting that "fear cannot decide my duty to the people" as she defended her government's handling of the July-August 2024 unrest in her first press conference since being ousted from power.
Addressing reporters virtually from New Delhi, Hasina claimed the anti-government protests had been hijacked by extremist and foreign-backed forces to topple her elected government.
Referring to Bangladesh's interim leader Muhammad Yunus, she said the plan had been "divulged by Muhammad Yunus himself" and alleged that the students' quota movement was transformed into a single-point campaign demanding her removal.
She denied allegations that her administration had ordered indiscriminate violence against protesters, insisting security forces had exercised restraint despite widespread unrest.
She said her government had attempted to resolve the quota issue through dialogue, appealed the High Court's verdict and invited student leaders for talks, but alleged that organised groups exploited the agitation to seize power "outside the ballot box".
Hasina said the violence during the protests claimed the lives of police personnel, Awami League workers, journalists and ordinary civilians, and accused "terrorist groups" of carrying out coordinated attacks on government installations and security personnel. Rejecting allegations that her government was responsible for the bloodshed, she said that law enforcement agencies had acted only to restore order.
She claimed her government had constituted a judicial inquiry commission on July 18, 2024, to investigate every death and incident of violence during the unrest. However, she alleged that the interim administration led by Muhammad Yunus halted the probe after assuming power.
Questioning the move, Hasina alleged that those involved in the violence had been granted indemnity. "If they truly wanted justice, why did they stop the inquiry?" she asked.
Hasina further alleged that since her ouster, thousands of Awami League leaders, workers and supporters, along with police personnel, journalists, lawyers, judges and members of minority communities, had faced arrests, torture and violence. She said the 2024 movement eventually turned into "a coordinated assault on the Constitution" and accused the current dispensation of suppressing dissent while targeting those associated with Bangladesh's Liberation War.
Hasina also alleged that Bangladesh's economy had deteriorated sharply over the past year. She claimed GDP growth had slowed, industrial production had contracted for the first time in decades, bank defaults had surged, poverty had increased and investment had weakened.
She further alleged that the government was borrowing 700-900 crore taka every month from Bangladesh Bank to meet its expenses, while many factories had shut down and several industrialists and business owners had either fled the country or gone into hiding.
Despite facing multiple criminal cases, Hasina said that she would return to Bangladesh. "Fear cannot decide my duty to the people," she said, adding that her return was "not about power" but about restoring "security, development, prosperity and peace" and putting Bangladesh "back on the right track."
Hasina, who fled to India after being removed from office in August 2024, said history would ultimately judge the events surrounding her government's fall and vowed to continue speaking out against what she described as an "unconstitutional seizure of power."
(With inputs from ANI)
