Bangladeshis cast their ballots today in a pivotal general election, the first since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was removed from power in August 2024 following mass student-led protests. While polling has officially closed, voters who were still in line at stations are being allowed to cast their votes.
In an email interview with independent journalist Yusuph Choudhury, Sheikh Hasina spoke of her concerns over the lack of “legal or moral authority” of the interim administration. Regarding the new government, she argued that “it will lack any mandate to govern or to claim it speaks on behalf of the Bangladeshi people… you cannot claim the people’s consent when you were not their first choice, but rather the only one available.”
Why have you rejected the authority of the Muhammad Yunus administration?
Yunus governs without a single vote from the Bangladeshi people. He was not elected; he was installed. No unelected administration has the legal or moral authority to rewrite our Constitution, ban political parties, or dictate the parameters of democratic participation. Since seizing power through his meticulously designed plan, Yunus has placed extremists in Cabinet positions, released convicted terrorists, presided over thousands of documented attacks on religious minorities, detained citizens on fabricated political charges, and overseen the deaths of more than 100 political detainees in custody.
Whatever the outcome of the February 12 general elections, will you accept the authority of this newly elected administration?
As for the February elections, you cannot organize credible elections while banning the country’s largest political party, the Awami League, staging show trials of its leadership, and detaining hundreds of thousands of its supporters. The incoming government will face a similar crisis of authority, not through its own actions, but through those of Yunus and his cronies. It will lack any mandate to govern or to claim it speaks on behalf of the Bangladeshi people. You cannot claim the people’s consent when you were not their first choice, but rather the only one available.
Whether in government or opposition, the Awami League is part of our national conversation. If the Awami League is allowed to participate in elections that are genuinely free, fair and inclusive, we will accept the outcome and serve in whatever capacity the people choose. But elections without democratic choice are elections in name only.
Will you ever return to Bangladesh?
I will return to Bangladesh only when the conditions for genuine democracy exist. This means lifting the unlawful ban on the Awami League, releasing political prisoners detained on fabricated charges, and holding genuinely free, fair and inclusive elections. These are not luxuries, nor are they unreasonable demands. They are the basic requirements of any functioning democracy.
The current climate makes my return impossible because the conditions for meaningful political participation do not exist. Freedom of expression has been destroyed. Anyone who criticizes the government risks imprisonment, intimidation, or death. Media offices have been burned and journalists arrested for speaking the truth.
Human rights violations are rampant and each day we see thousands of acts of violence against Awami League members, minorities, and women. Returning to Bangladesh under these conditions would be walking into certain execution.
I have left Bangladesh before, when our country was similarly held hostage and threats were made against my family’s life. Similar lies were spread against our party, and it seemed I would never be able to reach our country again. But democracy was restored then, and it will be restored again. Once constitutional governance returns, when free, fair and participatory elections are held, and when people no longer face persecution for their beliefs, then I will return.
Are you continuing to coordinate political action among Awami League members? If so, please explain what sort of action.
The Awami League remains committed to serving Bangladesh, whether in government or opposition. We are challenging the unconstitutional ban on our party through every legal, diplomatic, and peaceful channel available. We continue to call for free, fair and inclusive elections and to draw the international community’s attention to the human rights abuses, political persecution and collapse of democratic norms occurring under the interim government.
To our supporters, my message has been clear: remain peaceful, remain patient, and continue to believe in democracy. No regime that rules through fear and repression can last forever. Bangladesh belongs to its people, not to the unelected cadre around Yunus. We will continue fighting for the rights of our supporters and the rest of the electorate through peaceful means.
What are your comments regarding the ban of the Awami League? Are you currently in touch with the Bangladesh authorities for this ban to be lifted?
Do not forget that no Bangladeshi has ever cast a vote for Yunus. And yet this unelected government has given itself the authority to overrule our country’s constitution, rewrite our legislation, and ban the party that has been democratically elected nine times throughout our history. In doing so, Yunus has knowingly disenfranchised tens of millions of citizens who simply will not vote at all if they cannot vote for the party of their choosing. This is not democracy; it is the elimination of political opposition by decree.
If Yunus truly believed that we had lost the confidence of the Bangladeshi people, he would have no problem with a test at the ballot box. Instead, he wishes to maintain his grip on Bangladesh by conducting farcical elections that only include his allies. The real loser here is Bangladesh itself, which sorely needs a legitimate government that leads with the genuine consent of the people. Meaningful dialogue with the current authorities in Bangladesh is impossible when they are the ones intent on excluding us from political life. We will continue to engage with parliamentarians, human rights organizations and international bodies who unanimously condemn the unconstitutional nature of this ban.
I want the international community to understand what is truly happening in Bangladesh. This is the most perilous chapter in our nation’s history since 1971. The secular, democratic, pluralistic country we built is being dismantled by extremist forces operating under the cover of an unelected administration.
The trials against me and hundreds of our colleagues are not about justice. They are about eliminating political opposition before elections can be held. Meanwhile, human rights violations are happening every day. The perpetrators of horrific violence responsible for the lynchings of religious minorities, the burning of journalists’ offices and the mob attacks on diplomatic missions walk free with immunity granted by Yunus himself.
I appeal to the international community to not allow Bangladesh to slide into extremism and lawlessness. Call for free, fair and inclusive elections. Demand the release of political prisoners. Hold the interim government accountable for its human rights abuses. The people of Bangladesh deserve better than to have their democratic future stolen by those who could never win a fair election.
2024 Revolution:
In August 2024, student-led protests erupted in Bangladesh over job quotas favoring individuals linked to the ruling party. These demonstrations, part of a broader wave of Gen Z activism across South Asia, ultimately led to Hasina fleeing to India and the establishment of an interim administration.
