In a fiery audio address from exile in India, former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, president of the banned Awami League, condemned the interim government’s handling of a recent teachers’ protest in Dhaka and urged her supporters to enforce a “lockdown” across the capital on November 13 to force Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus to resign.
The call comes just days after police fired on protesting educators in Shahbagh, injuring 19 and arresting 56, including the teachers’ association leader, heightening tensions in the politically volatile nation.
The lockdown program was declared earlier this week by Awami League leaders, shortly after Hasina’s defiant written interviews with international media outletsโReuters, AFP, and The Independentโcame to light in late October. In those responses, published on October 29, Hasina rejected charges of crimes against humanity from her ongoing trial, dismissed the proceedings as a “sham,” and vowed not to return to Bangladesh under the current regime, signalling her intent to remain in India while pushing for her party’s reinstatement.
Hasina, who fled to India following her ouster in August 2024 amid student-led protests, described the current regime as an “undemocratic, illegal government” that has “destroyed” Bangladesh’s economy, politics, and people’s quality of life. “Yunus has taken the country to the last stage,” she declared in the speech, circulated via social media and Awami League channels. “We must restore democracy… Yunus must be removed.”
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The address, lasting over 20 minutes, was a scathing indictment of the post-Hasina era, blending calls for justice with nostalgic references to her party’s legacy. It directly referenced the Shahbag incident on November 9, where security forces opened fire on teachers demanding better pay and conditions, labelling it “brutal oppression” against men and women alike. “We strongly condemn and express disgust at this tyranny,” Hasina said. “Those who fired the shots must be punished… The arrested teachers must be released immediately.”
Escalating Protests and Government Preparations
Authorities have responded aggressively, deploying around 7,000 officers in body armour for security drills across 142 locations in Dhaka on November 8, anticipating violence. Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam warned that the government would apply the “full force of law” against any Awami League activities defying the party’s ban, imposed until leaders like Hasina face trial for alleged crimes against humanity.
Hasina tied the teachers’ crackdown to a broader pattern of alleged atrocities since her fall. She recounted past incidents, including hot water attacks on primary school teachers, shootings at madrasa educators resulting in two deaths, and the enforced disappearance of an Awami League leader’s son in Munshiganj.
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“From Abu Sayed to all the massacres that have happened, these are done through Yunus’s metrics design,” she alleged, referring to the student uprising that began as a quota reform movement in July 2024.
The exiled leader drew stark contrasts with her tenure, claiming protesters until July 15 faced no harm under her watch. “Not a single touch was allowed on them,” she said. But once violence eruptedโtargeting homes, the metro rail, Padma Bridge, flyovers, BTV headquarters, and government buildingsโshe accused “coordinators” from banned Islamist groups like Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Chhatra Shibir of orchestrating the chaos to target her personally.
Citing confessions from attackers who boasted of arson and lynchings, Hasina blamed the interim government’s “immunity” for emboldening them. “Those who are doing it are proudly confessing… because they’ve been given indemnity.”
Demands for Justice and Warnings to Security Forces
Hasina demanded an immediate halt to trials of army officers in the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT-BD), arguing they were merely following orders during the unrest. “Where we tried war criminals, how can those protecting our independence and sovereignty be tried there?” she questioned, recalling her early warnings to Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman.
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She also called for withdrawing thousands of cases against Awami League members, including children as young as 13, and releasing all jailed activists. “They are not even allowed to study or take exams,” she lamented.
In a direct appeal to police and security personnel, Hasina highlighted their own vulnerabilities. “Those who are torturing you today also have families… They tied their daughters’ feet and said they will hang them in the future too,” she said, urging conscience over compliance. She warned of illegal arms proliferation in schools and madrasas but emphasised the power of the masses: “Weapons have to be wielded by people… We have always fought movements.”
Economically, Hasina accused the regime of crippling Awami League supporters through lootings, arsons, and destruction of farms and businesses. “Houses are looted, offices burned…fish, chickens, cows, ducks, fruit orchardsโall destroyed,” she said, vowing accountability for advisers like Lt. Gen. Jahangir Alam Chowdhury and Asif Nazrul.
Legacy, Constitution, and a Call to Unity
Invoking her father, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahmanโthe “Father of the Nation” whose 1975 assassination she has long blamed on opponentsโHasina positioned the Awami League as Bangladesh’s true liberator. “This country became independent under his leadership… That party fought all its life, shed blood, and endured jail and torture.” She rejected the July uprising’s “heroes” as criminals who committed “hooliganism, robbery, and murder of police, Awami League leaders, journalists, and minorities,” granted amnesty by the current powers.
The Constitution, she asserted, forged in the blood of millions and by elected representatives, cannot be touched by “these oppressed people’s zeros.” Dismissing the July declarations as illegitimate, Hasina called for unity: “Everyone must remain united… Recover those illegal weapons.” She framed Munshiganj as a “gateway” for broader resistance and ended on an optimistic note: “Inshallah, the people will win… Only the Awami League can improve this country. We brought independence and economic progress, raised living standards, and gave Bangladesh global status. That status was destroyed by this usurious murderer, militant fascist Yunus.”
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