Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has alleged that the 2024 violent protests in the country were not a spontaneous student movement but a "meticulously designed" operation aimed at bringing about a change in power outside the electoral process.
Speaking during a virtual interaction with the media in Delhi on the second anniversary of the 2024 unrest, Hasina claimed that remarks made by Bangladesh's Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus supported her allegations about the nature of the protests.
"Muhammad Yunus himself said this was a meticulously designed movement, led by a mastermind. His own words expose the truth. It was not simply a spontaneous student protest," she said.
"There was no visible or responsible leadership, instructions were given invisibly; it was organised, directed and used to create a path to power outside ballot box," the ousted ex-PM added.
Opening her address, Hasina paid tribute to Bangladesh's founding leader and her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the martyrs of the 1971 Liberation War, and members of her family who were killed during the August 1975 military coup.
The former prime minister also said that her government had sought to address the issue raised by 2024 protesters by challenging the High Court's quota verdict and inviting student leaders for talks. She alleged that those efforts went unanswered as the protests intensified into nationwide violence.
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"July 2024 was not a peaceful student movement from the beginning," Hasina reportedly stated in her virtual interaction from New Delhi.
Further, she alleged that government buildings were attacked and police personnel were killed during the unrest. Questioning criticism of the security forces, she asked whether maintaining public order was not the responsibility of law enforcement agencies. "Over 450 police stations were set on fire," she added.
Hasina has saved some of her harshest criticism for the interim government. She said it was a “illegal interim government” and added that one of its first decisions was to give indemnity to those who had killed police personnel.
"If they weren't afraid, why did they not allow the truth to come out," she concluded.
Hasina also claimed that her government had launched an investigation into the violence, but said the process was halted after she was removed from office.
The former prime minister has been living in exile in India since fleeing Bangladesh on August 5, 2024, after a student-led uprising forced her from power.
Bangladesh has since sought her extradition. Hasina has dismissed the charges against her and continued to accuse the government of Bangladesh of undermining democracy.
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