3 weeks ago
Ousted Hasina's Defiant Address Sparks Fury in Bangladesh
Sheikh Hasina used to be the leader of a country called Bangladesh.
Two years ago, big protests happened and she had to leave her country.
She has been living in India ever since.
Recently, she spoke to news reporters over video from New Delhi, India.
She said the protests were planned behind the scenes, not just by peaceful students.
She also said many police officers were hurt and many people have been hurt or are missing since she left.
She told everyone she wants to go back to Bangladesh in December.
The new leaders of Bangladesh were very angry about her speech and said India should not have let her speak.
People in Dhaka burned her picture, and someone threw a petrol bomb at the house of a famous cricket player who came to her talk.
Because of this, Bangladesh and India are not getting along well.
Ousted Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina delivered a defiant virtual address to the Foreign Correspondents' Club of South Asia in New Delhi on the second anniversary of the July Revolution, vowing: 'Whatever fate awaits me, I will return to my people.'
Hasina rejected the view that the 2024 uprising was a peaceful, spontaneous student protest, saying a quota reform movement was engineered into a one-point demand for her resignation, citing Muhammad Yunus's 'mastermind' description.
She alleged at least 10,000 people have been killed or disappeared since her ouster, roughly 650,000 arrests, about 460 police stations burned, and 3,000 police officers killed, tortured, or attacked.
Bangladesh's Ministry of Foreign Affairs branded her an 'absconding convicted genocider' and 'convicted mass murderer,' and called India allowing the event 'an affront to the sovereignty of Bangladesh.'
Fury spread in Dhaka, where effigies were burned and a petrol bomb was hurled at the Magura residence of cricketer Shakib Al Hasan, who had attended the press conference.
- Who
- Sheikh Hasina, the ousted prime minister of Bangladesh, who addressed the Foreign Correspondents' Club of South Asia; Bangladesh's Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and cricketer Shakib Al Hasan.
- What
- Hasina delivered a defiant virtual address rejecting the official narrative of the 2024 uprising and announcing plans to return to Bangladesh in December, prompting a sharp rebuke from Dhaka and protests, including a petrol bomb attack on Shakib Al Hasan's residence.
- Where
- New Delhi, India (virtual address); protests in Dhaka; petrol bomb attack in Magura, Bangladesh.
- When
- On the second anniversary of the July Revolution, two years after the July-August 2024 uprising that ended her 15-year rule.
- Why
- Hasina seeks to defend her record and signal her intent to return home, while Dhaka is angered by India allowing the event and by unresolved extradition requests under the 2013 Bangladesh-India extradition treaty.
Sheikh Hasina's Account
Bangladesh Government's Account
Nature of the 2024 uprising
Sheikh Hasina's Account
Hasina says the movement was engineered from behind the scenes, with a quota reform movement turned into a one-point demand for her resignation, citing Muhammad Yunus's own description of a 'mastermind.'
Bangladesh Government's Account
The government and prevailing narrative hold that the July Revolution was a spontaneous, peaceful student protest that ended her 15-year rule.
Casualties and accountability
Sheikh Hasina's Account
Hasina emphasizes police casualties (at least 3,000 officers killed, tortured or attacked and 460 stations burned), defends law enforcement, and alleges 10,000 killed or disappeared and 650,000 arrests since her ouster.
Bangladesh Government's Account
The ministry dismisses her questioning of UN-documented casualty figures, including the killing of children, and brands her a 'convicted genocider' and 'convicted mass murderer.'
Return and extradition
Sheikh Hasina's Account
Hasina vows to return in December despite possible detention over what she calls 'fabricated cases'; she was sentenced to death in absentia last November.
Bangladesh Government's Account
Dhaka demands her return under the 2013 extradition treaty, says repeated requests have gone unanswered, and warns that hosting her is 'detrimental' to bilateral relations.
Key facts
- Ousted leader
- Sheikh Hasina, former prime minister of Bangladesh, in exile in India
- Address
- Virtual press conference for the Foreign Correspondents' Club of South Asia, New Delhi
- Occasion
- Second anniversary of the July Revolution, two years after her ouster
- Planned return
- December, no specific date given
- Alleged police casualties
- At least 3,000 officers killed, tortured or attacked; about 460 police stations burned
- Alleged toll since ouster
- At least 10,000 killed or disappeared; roughly 650,000 arrests
- Legal status
- Sentenced to death in absentia by Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal for the killing of 1,400 protesters
- Fallout
- Effigy burnings in Dhaka; petrol bomb attack on Shakib Al Hasan's residence in Magura
Quotes
Bangladesh Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Official statement from Bangladesh's Ministry of Foreign Affairs
“"I may be detained, I may be sent to prison. But fear cannot decide my duty to the people… I cannot stay away while my beloved countrymen are suffering."”
firstpost.com
“"Bangladesh was outraged that Hasina was permitted to hold a live media interaction in New Delhi."”
NDTV
Sources
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