Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said that the “violent and extremist” policies of Bangladesh’s interim government led by Muhammad Yunus are responsible for tensions with India, and that Awami League supporters will not vote in the upcoming election due to a ban on the party that violates the country’s constitution.
Hasina, who has been living in self-exile in India since the fall of her government in August 2024, said in an email response to HT late on Thursday that Yunus’s sponsorship of extremists in his government “threatens to undermine the fundamental ties between Bangladesh and India.” She said in the interview that she was “very grateful to the Indian people for providing me safe haven”. Edited excerpts.
Q. The Muhammad Yunus-led interim government in Bangladesh has cited your presence in India as one of the causes of tension in bilateral relations and has even sought your extradition. How do you view this matter?
A: India has always been Bangladesh’s most important ally and must remain so if Bangladesh’s security and prosperity are to be maintained. If there is friction between India and the unelected administration of Dr. Yunus, it has nothing to do with me and everything to do with the anarchic, violent and extremist policies that are taking shape under the rule of Dr. Yunus.
This includes physical and judicial attacks on religious minorities, regressive social and religious policies, and even hostile rhetoric towards India from officials in Dhaka.
I want to make it clear that this kind of hostility is not something most Bangladeshis are comfortable with. The relations between our two countries are broad and deep. We are proud to be India’s trusted partner. Speaking personally, I must say that I am extremely grateful to the Indian people for providing me safe haven last year.
Q. Bangladesh’s International Criminal Tribunal for Bangladesh is expected to deliver its verdict in November in the crimes against humanity cases filed against you and other senior Awami League leaders, and prosecutors have sought the death penalty. How do you view these cases against you?
A: I categorically deny all the allegations made against me. These charges have been brought by a kangaroo court that is controlled by my political opponents, who have seized power undemocratically. Remember, not a single Bangladeshi has got a chance to vote for this interim government. There is no real respect for accountability or due process.
No persuasive evidence has been presented to support claims that I ordered or directed the use of deadly force against the crowd. The audio recordings and transcripts brought before the court have been manipulated and taken out of context.
In a proper court, I will be able to challenge this fake evidence. But at present no such court exists in Bangladesh.
I’m not afraid to defend my record. I have repeatedly challenged the Yunus administration to bring these charges before an impartial tribunal, such as the International Criminal Court, where I could be tried fairly and with the right to a proper defense. The Yunus government will not do this, because it knows that it cannot control the proceedings and deliver a predetermined guilty verdict.
Q. The interim government has banned the activities of the Awami League under the Anti-Terrorism Act and the Election Commission has suspended the registration of the party, and thus the Awami League will not be a part of the general elections to be held in February. How do you and the Awami League want to respond to this situation?
A: There can be no hope of democracy when the country’s oldest and most popular party is banned from participating. This ban is a violation of the Constitution of Bangladesh and the fundamental democratic rights of the 173 million people of Bangladesh. If this ban is maintained, millions of ordinary Bangladeshis will be disenfranchised.
If they can’t vote for their preferred party, they won’t vote at all. Bangladesh may have missed the opportunity to establish a government that truly rules by consensus. This would be a tragedy.
As a party, we will continue to challenge this ban legally, diplomatically and peacefully to ensure that the common people retain their right to elect their representatives.
Awami League has come to power nine times through direct votes of the people. The party has never gained power through unconstitutional or illegal means. In contrast, no one got a chance to vote for Dr. Yunus.
Q. The Government of India has said that elections in Bangladesh should be free, fair, inclusive and participatory. Do you think the elections will have validity without Awami League?
A: This ban is not only unjust, but self-defeating. This meant that the next government would have no electoral legitimacy as millions of voters were effectively disenfranchised. Our main hope for Bangladesh is that it returns to constitutional rule and political stability. The only way to deliver this is through free, fair and inclusive elections.
Q. The interim government has accused AAP of playing a direct role in the crackdown on students and other groups who joined the protests in 2024, and the United Nations has said 1,400 people were killed in protests in July-August 2024. How do you respond to these allegations?
A: The allegation that I was personally involved in the security response that led to the tragic loss of life is baseless. These allegations have been made against me by an unelected regime with the intention of silencing its main political opponent. It is a gross misrepresentation to describe the actions of security forces on the ground as direct orders from the government. Mistakes were certainly made by some members of law enforcement in dealing with the violence. But to suggest that I was directing minute-by-minute tactical responses from the Prime Minister’s Office is a fundamental misunderstanding of how the security forces work. I repeat, at no time did I authorize the security forces to open fire on the crowd.
I regret every life lost in last summer’s protests. The streets of Dhaka were lawless and violent, and our actions were aimed at minimizing loss of life, as well as protecting the Constitution.
In the days following the first deaths, we established an independent inquiry to investigate the breakdown in law and order that led to these tragic events. The Yunus administration ended this investigation within its first days in power, which I deeply regret. This means that Bangladeshis, especially the bereaved families, still have no reliable answers to their questions about those days.
Instead, they have been accused of making defamatory and vulgar allegations against my government. These allegations are intended to hurt the Awami League as a political force but have little to do with factual truth.
Q. The Awami League has approached the ICC to investigate reports of “retaliatory violence” against its leaders and supporters. How confident are you that this move will be successful?
A: Crimes against humanity should be tried by an impartial, international tribunal such as the ICC. Retaliatory violence targeting Awami League members and supporters, members of the judiciary, journalists, and religious minorities has been widely reported in the international media and criticized by several human rights organizations and the United Nations.
Thousands of false cases have been registered against Awami League supporters. Hundreds of people have faced arbitrary detention on fabricated charges and many have died in custody. According to Human Rights Watch, in the Yunus administration’s first 100 days in power, more than 1,000 police cases were filed against thousands of people without any legal basis.
All this is happening under the administration currently in power. Yunus and his cronies are pursuing a fake case against me to divert international attention from these abuses. That is why we need an impartial and independent judicial institution, like the ICC, to identify and verify ongoing abuses and hold the Yunus regime accountable.
Q. The Indian government has repeatedly accused the Yunus-led caretaker administration of failing to protect the rights of Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh. How do you view these developments?
A: While in power, we were proud of our commitment to maintaining religious tolerance and secularism. It is deeply disturbing to see the values ​​of our Constitution completely undermined through brutal acts of religiously motivated oppression and violence.
The wave of religious violence that swept our country in the first weeks of Yunus’ rule was outrageous. Yunus also continues to deny the violence that still targets Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, indigenous communities and other minority religious groups today.
Bangladesh has always been a haven for people fleeing persecution, which is why we welcomed, supported and protected thousands of Rohingya refugees fleeing the civil war in Myanmar. All this is now hanging in the balance due to increasing extremism and communal violence in everyday life.
Dr. Yunus started his career in Grameen Bank in 1990 with a salary of only Taka 6,000. Then how did he accumulate such immense wealth? Where did the large sums of money donated to the Clinton Foundation and Hillary Clinton’s campaign come from? Today, he is said to have fixed deposits amounting to around Taka 5,000 crore in several accounts in various banks in Bangladesh. There is also a case of tax evasion against him.
Q. Since the interim government took power in Dhaka, individuals convicted of supporting terrorist groups in India’s north-east have been freed from prison, there have been allegations of re-emergence of extremist forces whose activities were banned by the Awami League government, and increased contacts with the Pakistani military. What impact will these developments have on India-Bangladesh relations?
A: We have worked hard during our tenure to counter extremist forces and ensure that all citizens, regardless of their religion, are free and safe to live their lives as they wish. These values ​​were enshrined in our Constitution. Today, the streets of Dhaka are not safe and millions of ordinary Bangladeshis live in fear of leaving their homes. We have already seen the spread of radical Islamic ideology across our country, whether in the form of physical violence against minority religious groups or members of the Awami League, or the repression and exclusion of women and girls from public life.
India has always been a staunch ally and friend of Bangladesh. But today’s chaos and broken decision-making is not what India expects from us. Yunus sponsoring extremists in his government undoubtedly risks undermining that fundamental relationship between our two nations.
Q. Your tenure as Prime Minister saw a rapid increase in connectivity and trade and transit ties with India and several development projects. Do you believe that the actions of the interim government have put such projects at risk, especially given the growing influence of China and Pakistan in Bangladesh?
A: It is no secret that our once high-growth economy is faltering under the interim government. Actually, IMF has reduced the rating of Bangladesh several times last year. We have prepared Bangladesh to move beyond LDC status, and it is disappointing to see the economic progress we have achieved being threatened in this way.
What we achieved in the last two decades was remarkable: we saw our economy grow by more than 450%, launch major infrastructure projects, expand access to electricity and provide employment opportunities for millions of people. Improved trade and transit with India was certainly an important part of that development, and deepened the partnership between our countries.
That progress was achieved through hard work. So it breaks my heart to see the strain in relations between our countries due to delays in major development initiatives and short-sighted policy changes and deep changes in Bangladesh’s foreign policy.
