Archive · 5 Aug 2026
Hasina says Bangladesh gripped by fear, BNP won rigged polls
Sheikh Hasina used to be the leader of a country called Bangladesh.
She now lives in India because she had to leave her home.
She spoke to reporters in New Delhi through an audio link.
Hasina said she is very sad about what is happening in Bangladesh.
She says people there are scared, worried about money, and not safe.
She thinks the people now in charge did not win a fair election.
Hasina says students who protested two years ago were used by other people to cause trouble.
She wants to go back to Bangladesh before the end of this year.
She hopes she and her party can help make Bangladesh peaceful and good again.
Speaking from exile in India, former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said the country remains in the grip of fear, insecurity and economic distress under a Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) government she alleges won a 'rigged election.'
Hasina announced she would return to Bangladesh by the end of the year, saying the date of her return will be announced later.
She alleged organized groups exploited the July-August 2024 student protests, turning the quota reform movement into a violent campaign demanding her resignation and regime change.
Hasina cited interim government Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus's description of the 2024 protests as a 'meticulously designed movement led by a mastermind' as evidence the unrest was organized.
She claimed at least 10,000 people have been killed or disappeared and 650,000 arrested over two years, with more than 600 cases filed against her, and demanded the Awami League ban be lifted and freedom of speech restored.
- Who
- Sheikh Hasina, former Prime Minister of Bangladesh, currently living in exile in India.
- What
- Held a press conference alleging Bangladesh remains in fear and crisis under a BNP government she says won a 'rigged election,' and announced her plan to return to Bangladesh by year-end.
- When
- On Wednesday, roughly two years after the July-August 2024 student protests (exact date not stated in the article).
- Where
- New Delhi, India, with Hasina addressing the press conference via an audio link.
- Why
- Hasina says the people of Bangladesh deserve security, development, prosperity and democracy, and she wants to help put the country back on the right track.
- Speaker
- Sheikh Hasina, former Prime Minister of Bangladesh
- Location
- New Delhi, India (press conference via audio link)
- Exile status
- Living in exile in India for the past two years
- Alleged rigged election
- BNP assumed office following a 'rigged election,' per Hasina
- Claimed killed or disappeared
- At least 10,000 people over the past two years
- Claimed arrests
- 650,000 people over the past two years
- Cases against Hasina
- More than 600
- Return plan
- To return to Bangladesh by the end of the year