Ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina will not attend the much-discussed press conference scheduled to be held in Delhi on Friday, where she had been invited to speak on Bangladesh’s political situation and the upcoming national election. Instead, an audio message from Hasina is expected to be broadcast at the event, sources said.
The programme, titled “Bangladesh at the Crossroads,” is being organised by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of South Asia. It was initially planned that Hasina would address the press conference, marking what would have been her first formal interaction with the Indian press since her ouster. Senior leaders of the Awami League are expected to participate in the event.
Former information minister Mohammad A Arafat confirmed to TIMES of Bangladesh that Hasina will not join the programme either in person or virtually. “She will send an audio message, which will be played during the event,” he said, adding that he himself will participate virtually.
The invitation card for the programme has drawn attention in Dhaka’s political and diplomatic circles, as it identifies Sheikh Hasina as “The Honourable Prime Minister of Bangladesh,” despite the dissolution of the previous cabinet. The same invitation also refers to Md Ali Arafat as “Minister of Information & Broadcasting” and Mohibul Hassan Chowdhury Nowfel as “Minister of Education,” titles they no longer hold.
Besides Arafat and Nowfel, the event will be attended by former foreign minister AK Abdul Momen and Secretary General of Bangladesh Human Rights Watch USA Mohammad A Siddique.
Press Club of India President Goutom Lahiri, who has access to the audio recording of Hasina, said the former prime minister, in her message, challenged Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus to test their respective popularity and invited him to contest against her in the parliamentary election.
The programme is scheduled to begin at 6:30pm (Bangladesh time) on Friday and will be broadcast live through Facebook, YouTube, X (formerly Twitter), and the official website of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of South Asia (www.fccsouthasia.com).
Meanwhile, in an interview with BBC Hindi, Foreign Adviser Md Touhid Hossain commented on the broader situation, saying he had expected “more subtle reactions from India,” without directly referring to the event.
