Former prime minister Sheikh Hasina has refused to apologise for the deadly crackdown on student-led protests that ultimately led to her downfall last year, defending her record as prosecutors seek the death penalty against her for crimes against humanity.
In a rare and wide-ranging interview with British online newspaper The Independent, the 78-year-old Awami League chief – who ruled Bangladesh with an iron fist for more than 15 years – denied ordering law enforcement forces to open fire on demonstrators.
Hasina defended her actions during the protests last year and denied any personal culpability for the killings during what she labelled a “violent insurrection.”
She blames the high number of casualties on “breakdowns in discipline among security forces on the ground”, adding, “As a leader, I ultimately take leadership responsibility, but the claim that I ordered or wished for the different forces to open fire on the crowds is simply wrong.”
Hasina, now living in exile in India, was ousted in August 2024 after weeks of nationwide unrest sparked by student protests over job quotas. What began as a youth-led movement against perceived government injustice, spiralled into a mass anti-government uprising.
According to a United Nations report, up to 1,400 people were killed and thousands more injured between mid-July and early August 2024 – the deadliest period of political violence in Bangladesh since its war of independence.
Most of the deaths were caused by gunfire from security forces, rights groups said.
At that time, Amnesty International said the death toll represented “a shocking indictment of the absolute intolerance shown by the Bangladeshi authorities to protest and dissent.”
The UN human rights chief Volker Türk called the attacks on students “particularly shocking and unacceptable.”
International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) has charged Hasina with ordering lethal force against unarmed demonstrators, accusing her of “crimes against humanity”. Prosecutors have described her as the “mastermind” behind the killings and are seeking the death penalty.
On November 13, ICT will fix the date for the verdict of the case.
Hasina described her trial in absentia as a “sham.”
Speaking separately to Reuters, Hasina said the Awami League would eventually return to play a role in Bangladesh’s future – whether in government or opposition — and that her family need not lead it.
“It’s really not about me or my family,” Hasina said. “For Bangladesh to achieve the future we all want, there must be a return to constitutional rule and political stability. No single person or family defines our country’s future.”
On the upcoming election scheduled to be held in February next year, the former prime minister said, “The next government must have electoral legitimacy. Millions of people support the Awami League, so as things stand, they will not vote. You cannot disenfranchise millions of people if you want a political system that works.”
Hasina said she also would not return to Bangladesh under any government formed after elections that exclude her party and plans to remain in India.
