New Delhi/Dhaka:
A voice note of ousted Bangladesh premier Sheikh Hasina describing how she and her sister escaped death when she fled the country last August has been shared online by her Awami League party. In a trembling voice, the 77-year-old leader is heard praising Allah for saving her as she accused her political opponents of conspiring to get her killed.
Ms Hasina has been in Delhi since she fled Dhaka with her sister Rehana on August 5 last year after resigning as the prime minister, minutes before a mob ran over her palatial bungalow.
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“We escaped death by just 20-25 minutes. I feel surviving the killings on August 21, surviving the bomb in Kotalipara, or surviving on August 5, 2024, there must be a will of Allah, hand of Allah. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have survived this time,” she is heard saying in Bangla in the audio clip.
She was referring to the August 21, 2004 grenade attack, which she escaped with injuries, but resulted in the death of at least 24 people. Another instance she cited was of the Kotalipara bomb conspiracy, in which bombs were found in July 2000 at a college where Ms Hasina was supposed to visit.
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Ms Hasina, who is wanted in Bangladesh for corruption, said in her audio message the world had seen how her opponents conspired to kill her. But she survived, she asserted, since she believes Allah wants her to do something more.
The former premier broke down as she continued, “I am suffering, I am without my country, my home, everything has been burned.”
Bangladesh has requested to extradite Ms Hasina and while the Indian foreign ministry has confirmed receiving a note in this regard, they did not offer any comment on it.
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Ms Hasina, the daughter of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, led the charge in Bangladesh until August 5 when a students’ movement turned violent. Facing a risk to life, she resigned and flew to India – a country that shared good relations with her family – with her sister Rehana. Minutes later, a mob entered and ransacked her home, stealing from and vandalizing the empty bungalow.
The period saw political clashes involving Ms Hasina’s allies as well as attacks on the Hindu minorities – which led to a strain in ties between India and Bangladesh.
An interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, backed by their armed forces, is now in power in the neighbouring country.
