Student protests are a foreign conspiracy: Hasina

New Delhi: Two years after being ousted from power due to student protests in Bangladesh and taking refuge in India, former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina appeared on a public virtual platform for the first time on Wednesday and delivered an emotional audio statement. In her address from New Delhi, she said that the mass movement that led to the removal of her government in July–August 2024 was not a spontaneous student protest. Rather, it was a planned foreign operation aimed at removing her government outside the democratic process and establishing a new regime.

Despite strong objections from the Dhaka administration, the event was organized by a private institution, and it was clarified that the Government of India had no involvement. At the beginning of her speech, Sheikh Hasina paid tearful tribute to the founder of Bangladesh and her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the martyrs of the 1971 Liberation War, and her family members who were killed in the August 1975 military coup.

Expressing concern over the current situation in the country, she said that the movement, which began under the pretext of reforms in the reservation (quota) policy, had long been shaped by a conspiracy. Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus himself has revealed the truth behind this serious plot. The quota movement was deliberately turned into a single-point agenda, and organized groups carried out widespread violence to seize power.

Questioning those who criticized the actions of the security forces, Hasina said that more than 450 police stations and various government institutions were set on fire by protesters, and many police personnel were killed. She asked whether it was not the responsibility of the administration to maintain law and order.

Describing the current interim government as completely illegal, Hasina alleged that it is providing legal protection to criminals. The veteran leader, who has been living in exile in India since August 5, 2024, rejected all criminal cases filed against her and firmly stated that she would return to Bangladesh in December.