“Don’t worry. I am coming,” a resolute Sheikh Hasina, one of the two living children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, assured Awami League workers on Monday. In a virtual meeting with Awami League, Hasina vowed to return to Bangladesh and investigate the allegations of attacks and torture on her party members in the delta nation. Hasina has been living in India since she fled Dhaka. Bangladesh’s interim government has been seeking her extradition from India and PM Narendra Modi.
Following the collapse of the Awami League government in August 2024, Sheikh Hasina, the former Prime Minister of Bangladesh and leader of the Awami League, departed the country. Since then, she has engaged with party members virtually on various occasions.
The event was also broadcast live on the Awami League’s social media page. On Monday evening, a similar virtual discussion was transmitted live on the same platform.
During the discussion, which lasted over an hour, the Awami League leader listened attentively to the concerns of party workers and supporters. They alleged that their families were being subjected to various forms of harassment.
Assuring the Awami League party members, Sheikh Hasina said that she would probe all the alleged incidents of torture.
Hasina said, “That is why Allah has kept me alive. Don’t worry. I am coming.” Mohammad Nazrul Islam, president of the ‘All European Awami League’, was also present at the discussion meeting.
Islam chanted, “Justice will happen one day. That day is not far away.”
In the 1-hour and 11-minute discussion, Sheikh Hasina compared the situation in Bangladesh with the Awami League government. She spent a large part of her speech attacking Muhammad Yunus, the chief advisor to the country’s interim government.
The Awami League leader claimed, “We did not treat our opponents like this. But Yunus (is doing it) to consolidate power.”
Sheikh Hasina also attacked Yunus as a ‘usurer’ and ‘anti-human’. The word ‘trial’ came up repeatedly throughout the speech.
Hasina said, “Those who committed this heinous act must be tried in Bangladesh. We will do that. I tell the families of the martyrs, please be patient.”
Meanwhile, various political parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), have begun to intensify their activities in anticipation of the forthcoming elections in Bangladesh. In a national address on March 25, the eve of Bangladesh’s Independence Day, Muhammad Yunus stated that the parliamentary elections would be held between December of this year and June of next year.
