Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina remains in self-imposed exile in India as Bangladesh heads towards elections on Thursday. Hasina was ousted after student-led protests in July 2024, after which she flew to New Delhi, where she lives in a secret safe house under full security.
In a media interaction via email last year, Hasina said she lives independently in Delhi but is cautious because of her family’s history of violence. (AFP)Since Hasina’s ouster, Bangladesh has been ruled by an interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus.
Although his party Awami League has been banned 12 February competition general election, the timeline for the 78-year-old leader’s return remains unclear, especially after a Bangladeshi court sentenced her to death in November. The court found the former prime minister guilty of “crimes against humanity” in connection with the “July Uprising” protests.
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However, despite her exile, Hasina has maintained a discreet public presence, addressing the public through online audio messages and voicing her views on social media. There are also rare glimpses of her quietly strolling through Lodhi Gardens, a foreshadowing of her life in Delhi after the ouster.
Sheikh Hasina’s first public meeting speechIn her first public address, released days before Bangladesh’s elections, Hasina attacked the country’s chief adviser, Muhammad Yunus, and her rival, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. He lamented the “lawlessness” and “oppression of minorities” in Bangladesh.
his There was audio recording Performed at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club titled “Save Democracy in Bangladesh”, where he urged citizens to rise up against the interim administration, alleging that it was unable to deliver free and fair elections. He demanded an “ironclad guarantee” to protect religious minorities, women and vulnerable communities, and called on the United Nations to conduct a “new and truly impartial inquiry” into events since the fall of his government. In an earlier HT report.
He alleged that Bangladesh had become a “huge prison, a hanging ground, a valley of death”, adding that the homeland won under his father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had been “destroyed by extremist sectarian forces and ferocious attacks by foreign criminals”.
While calling Yunus a “murderous fascist” and “corrupt”, he accused him of engineering a conspiracy to oust him with what he described as “his anti-state militant accomplices”.
In an audio message posted on Awami League’s Facebook page, Hasina also took a swipe at BNP. He said the party had “ruled out” the 2024 elections, alleging that they had no evidence of election irregularities.
Living Freely in Delhi: Hasina’s Life After DethroningHasina spoke to the media for the first time after being ousted in October last year. Sheikh Hasina in an email conversation with news agency Reuters He said he lives independently in Delhi But his family’s history of violence remains wary.
The former prime minister’s father and three brothers were killed in a 1975 military coup while he and his sister were abroad.
According to In an earlier HT reportsoon after landing in India, Hasina was moved from Hindon to a secure bungalow in central Delhi near India Gate and Khan Market, intelligence officials with knowledge of the incident said. They added that multiple layers of security protected the former prime minister.
A Reuters reporter last year caught a rare glimpse of Hasina walking calmly in Delhi’s historic Lodhi Garden, accompanied by two men who appeared to be her personal security detail. He admitted to alleged passers-by who recognized him with a nod.
However, despite her quiet life in Delhi, Hasina said she eventually wants to return to her country. “I would certainly prefer to go home, as long as the government there was legitimate, the constitution was upheld and law and order really prevailed,” he said in October last year.
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Death penalty and extradition requestfor “crimes against humanity” for his government’s brutal crackdown on student-led protests last year. A special tribunal on November 17 sentenced Hasina to death in absentia. In view of this, Bangladesh’s foreign ministry had sent an “official letter” to India seeking the extradition of the former prime minister in November last year.
Responding to Bangladesh’s extradition request, Hasina rejected the demand and said she would not return to what she called a “political assassination”. In an interview with ANI news agency, he said the requests came from an “increasingly desperate and ousted Yunus administration” and said he would return only when there was a “legitimate government” and an “independent judiciary”.
Hasina challenged Yunus to “take his charges to The Hague”, saying she was confident that an independent court would acquit him of all charges.
After the sentencing, the country’s interim foreign adviser said last year that Dhaka expected a response from New Delhi, adding that “the situation is different now.”
Hossain said Hasina’s formal extradition was requested through the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi following the verdict of the special tribunal under the existing extradition treaty between the two countries. Bangladesh also sent a note verbale to India in December 2024 seeking Hasina’s extradition, which New Delhi acknowledged without further comment.
