Exiled but Defiant: Sheikh Hasina Breaks Silence on Bangladesh’s Political Crisis
globalExiled former PM Sheikh Hasina breaks her silence, calling Bangladesh’s ongoing political crisis a threat to democracy.
Exiled but Defiant: Sheikh Hasina Breaks Silence on Bangladesh’s Political Crisis
New Delhi | 15 November 2025
From an undisclosed location in New Delhi, former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has spoken publicly for the first time since going into exile, offering a blunt and sweeping assessment of the turmoil engulfing her country. In an exclusive interaction with India Today Global, the exiled Awami League chief said that any election held without the participation of the Awami League “cannot be considered legitimate.”
Her remarks come at a moment of deep political upheaval in Bangladesh, where the interim administration has banned the Awami League and assumed broad emergency powers. Hasina, a four-time Prime Minister and one of South Asia’s longest-serving elected leaders, accused the new dispensation of enabling what she described as an “unelected, extremist-backed regime” that has dismantled democratic institutions and silenced dissent.
Forced to flee Dhaka after months of escalating confrontation, Hasina spoke candidly about the personal cost of exile and the gravity of the crisis unfolding back home. She described a Bangladesh grappling with political repression, the collapse of due process, and widespread fear, while insisting that the democratic mandate of millions had been “stolen overnight.”
Despite being away from her country for the first time in decades, Hasina stressed that she remains committed to restoring constitutional rule. “Democracy cannot be restored by excluding the very party that built this nation’s political foundation,” she said, reiterating that the Awami League remains central to Bangladesh’s stability and governance.
Her comments underscore the volatility of the current moment, with the nation’s political future clouded by uncertainty. As regional actors—including India—watch closely, Hasina’s re-emergence signals that Bangladesh’s most influential political figure is not fading quietly into exile.
Instead, she appears poised to continue shaping the narrative of a country at a crossroads—exiled, but unbroken.
