(Image source from: AFP)
An audio memo from ousted Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina describing how she and her sister narrowly escaped death while fleeing the country last August has been shared by the Awami League party. With a trembling voice, the 77-year-old leader praised God for his salvation while accusing his political opponents of plotting to assassinate him. Hasina resigned as prime minister on August 5 last year and has been in Delhi with her sister Rihana since fleeing Dhaka, minutes before their palatial bungalow was overrun by the mob. “We only escaped death by 20-25 minutes, we survived the bombing on August 5, 2024,” she says in this audio clip I heard. She was referring to a grenade attack on August 21, 2004, in which at least 24 people were killed and no one was injured. As another example, she cited the Kotharipara bombing in July 2000, when a bomb was discovered at a university that Ms. Hasina was planning to attend.
Hasina, who is wanted in Bangladesh on corruption charges, said in an audio message that the world had seen the opposition conspiring to kill her. But she claimed he survived because she believed God would ask more of her. “I am in pain, I have no country, no home and everything has burned down,” the former prime minister shouted. Bangladesh has requested Hasina's extradition and India's foreign ministry confirmed it had received a memo to that effect but had no comment. Hasina, daughter of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, led the student movement in Bangladesh until August 5 when it turned violent. Fearing for his life, she gave up his job and went to India with her sister Rihana, where she maintained good relations with his family. Minutes later, a group entered her house, ransacked it and stole and vandalized his empty bungalow. This period saw political conflicts between Hasina's allies and attacks on the Hindu minority, straining relations between India and Bangladesh. In the neighboring country, a transitional government led by Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus is in power and is supported by the military.
