News Desk
DHAKA: Bangladesh has strongly criticized India after former prime minister Sheikh Hasina delivered a virtual speech from New Delhi, in which she vowed to return to her country despite the possibility of arrest or imprisonment.
Addressing the South Asian Foreign Correspondents’ Club in New Delhi through a virtual platform, Hasina said she would return to Bangladesh under any circumstances. She claimed that the 2024 student movement was not a spontaneous protest but a pre-planned effort to remove her government from power.
She alleged that the movement, which initially focused on quota reforms, was later transformed into a campaign demanding her resignation. Hasina also claimed that attacks on police and government installations during the unrest resulted in thousands of casualties among security personnel and damage to state property.
She said the government had a responsibility to protect citizens and public institutions. Hasina accused Bangladesh’s interim and current authorities of blocking investigations into events that occurred during and after her government’s fall and of protecting those responsible.
The former prime minister further claimed that after the change of government, thousands of people had been killed or gone missing, hundreds of thousands had been arrested and a large number of individuals had been named in various cases.
The remarks drew an immediate reaction from Dhaka. Bangladesh’s Foreign Ministry lodged a strong protest, accusing India of allowing what it described as a fugitive and convicted figure to address the media from its territory.
In a statement, the ministry said India had permitted Hasina to make remarks that undermined Bangladesh’s sovereignty and insulted its people. It added that Dhaka had already warned New Delhi about possible diplomatic consequences before the event took place.
