Interview With AFP: Sheikh Hasina blames foreign conspiracy for ouster

In her third exclusive interview since leaving Dhaka 14 months ago on Wednesday, Awami League President and five-time Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina delivered a blistering broadside against the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government, warning that the February 2026 elections without her party will “sow the seeds of permanent division” in Bangladesh.

Speaking from undisclosed exile in India, the 78-year-old ousted leader — whose 15-year rule ended in a student-led jihadist-army coup on August 5, 2024 — also branded her ongoing crimes against humanity trial a “jurisprudential joke” with a “preordained guilty verdict” due November 13.

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Sheikh Hasina accused Nobel laureate Yunus of weaponising democracy by banning the Awami League in May 2025 under controversial amendments to the Anti-Terrorism Act — a move Human Rights Watch called “draconian.”

“Elections without the direct participation of all major parties, including the Awami League, cannot be credible,” she told AFP in written responses. “Yunus must reinstate the party to give Bangladeshis the choice they deserve.”

She warned that excluding the largest political force, which dominated Bangladesh for over two decades, would fuel unrest, deepen polarisation, and hand power to extremists.

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“You cannot ostracise a party because you don’t like their policies,” she said. “Elections are a competition of ideas — not a coronation.”

With the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami now surging in polls, Sheikh Hasina claimed the Yunus regime is engineering a one-sided contest to permanently erase her legacy.

‘Kangaroo Court’: Trial for 1,400 Deaths ‘Rigged from Day One’

Sheikh Hasina faces command responsibility charges for the killing of up to 1,400 protesters during the 2024 uprising — deaths the UN says were part of a state-sponsored crackdown.

Former lawyer of the 1971 war criminals and the Chief Prosecutor of the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT-BD), Tajul Islam, has demanded the death penalty, calling her “the nucleus around whom all crimes were committed.”

But Sheikh Hasina rejected the charges outright: “The charges are not supported by any evidence. This is a trial in absentia by an unelected administration of my political opponents. A guilty verdict is preordained. I will not be surprised when it comes on November 13.”

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She dismissed audio tapes — verified by police — allegedly showing her ordering “lethal force” as “taken out of context.”

“The charge that I personally directed security forces to open fire is bogus,” she said, admitting only that “some mistakes were made within the chain of command.”

“Decisions were proportionate, made in good faith, to minimise loss of life.”

Sheikh Hasina said she would only accept a “truly impartial” trial — such as at the International Criminal Court (ICC).

‘Foreign-Backed Conspiracy’ and ‘Anarchy’ Toppled Her’

Reiterating claims made in prior interviews, Hasina insisted her ouster was not a popular revolution but a “foreign-orchestrated conspiracy” to destabilise South Asia.

“What happened in July 2024 was not a student movement — it was anarchy, funded and fueled from abroad,” she alleged, without naming countries.

She accused “external forces” of arming rioters, spreading disinformation, and pressuring the military to stand down as mobs stormed her residence.

“I mourn every life lost — students, police, civilians,” she said. “But the violence was engineered to create chaos and justify regime change.”

‘Operation Devil Hunt’ Targets Loyalists

Sheikh Hasina condemned the February 2025 “Operation Devil Hunt” — a nationwide sweep that arrested thousands of Awami League leaders on charges of “destabilising the state.”

“My supporters are being hunted like animals,” she said. “This is political genocide.”

Her party has filed an ICC complaint alleging “retaliatory lynchings, beatings, and disappearances” of Awami League members — crimes “with no realistic prospect” of justice in Bangladesh.

No Return — But No Retirement

When asked if she plans a political comeback, Hasina was evasive: “My priority is the welfare and stability of Bangladesh — not personal power.”

Yet she stopped short of ruling out a return, adding: “The people will decide who leads them — not a Nobel Prize winner in a temporary office.”

With elections just four months away, communal violence rising, and the economy reeling, Sheikh Hasina’s warnings carry weight — even from exile.

Her defiant tone is likely to inflame tensions, with Yunus’ allies dismissing her as “delusional” and BNP leaders celebrating her “final political funeral.”

But for millions of Awami League loyalists — many in hiding or jailed — her voice remains a rallying cry. “History will judge who destroyed democracy,” she concluded. “And who tried to save it.”