Awami League President and five-time Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has sharply condemned the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus for barring her Awami League from the upcoming February 12, 2026, national elections, describing the exclusion as “authoritarianism dressed up as transition” rather than genuine democratic reform.
In an exclusive written interview with ThePrint published on January 23, Sheikh Hasina called for “free, fair” elections open to all parties, while expressing deep concern over the deteriorating law and order situation in Bangladesh.
She argued that banning the Awami League, the country’s oldest and, in her view, most popular political party, effectively disenfranchises tens of millions of supporters who will refuse to participate in what she sees as a rigged process.
Sheikh Hasina asserted that elections held under these conditions cannot be considered legitimate, as voters must be free to choose their preferred party without coercion or exclusion. She accused the interim administration of knowing that allowing the Awami League to contest would result in overwhelming public support, which is why the ban was imposed.
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While Yunus has maintained that the Awami League is merely “suspended from political activities” rather than fully banned, Sheikh Hasina dismissed this as a “distinction without meaning,” pointing out that her party is barred from campaigning, organising, or fielding candidates. The Awami League, which governed from 2009 to 2024, led Bangladesh’s independence struggle in 1971 and remains a major force in national politics.
Reflecting on the 2024 student-led protests that toppled her government, she expressed regret over every life lost during the violence, which the interim authorities claim claimed around 1,400 lives. She defended her administration’s response as necessary to protect institutions and prevent further bloodshed, noting that her government initially welcomed legitimate anti-quota demonstrations, addressed demands by scrapping job quotas, and allowed peaceful protests.
Sheikh Hasina blamed “extremist elements” and alleged orchestration by Yunus for turning the movement violent, with attacks on police stations and state infrastructure. Her principal frustration, she said, lies in Yunus dissolving the judicial inquiry she established into protester deaths shortly after assuming power, a move she claims was intended to conceal foreign involvement and his own role in engineering the unrest.
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She urged a swift return to constitutional governance through inclusive, free, and fair elections to restore law and order. She warned that the current unelected regime has allowed extremists to gain influence, fostered mob justice, and suppressed legitimate voices, leading to chaos, violence, and radicalisation.
She highlighted the perceived threat to Bangladesh’s secular foundations, noting the rehabilitation of Jamaat-e-Islami and other hardline factions, revisionist attacks on historical narratives (including vandalism of her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s residence), and risks to pluralism and minority rights.
โBangladesh was founded on secularism, pluralism and democratic values. The rehabilitation of Jamaat-e-Islami and other extremist factions threatens the very fabric of our nation.
โA nation that forgets the price of its freedom becomes vulnerable to those who once denied it. Preserving the truth of our Liberation War is not about politics. It is about safeguarding our identity and sovereignty.โ
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In November last year, Sheikh Hasina faced a death sentence from the International Crimes Tribunal for alleged crimes against humanity during the protests. Her student wing, Bangladesh Chhatra League, was banned in October 2024, and the Awami League in May 2025.
In more recent public statements from exile in India (as of late January 2026), Sheikh Hasina intensified her rhetoric against Yunus, labelling him a “murderous, fascist” and “power-hungry traitor” who has turned Bangladesh into an “execution ground” and “valley of death.”
She has called for the Bangladeshi people to overthrow what she describes as a “puppet regime” serving foreign interests, and outlined a five-point plan to restore democracy.
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