3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Aug 5, 2026 07:25 PM IST

Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday addressed her first media conference in two years via video link from New Delhi, coinciding with the second anniversary of her ouster following the student-led uprising in 2024. The address comes amid renewed political tensions between Dhaka and the Awami League, with India distancing itself from the private event.

The press event was held at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of South Asia in New Delhi on Wednesday, and the date coincides with the second anniversary of the fall of the Hasina government on August 5, 2024. The former prime minister of Bangladesh fled Dhaka two years ago after facing widespread student-led protests and has been living in India since then.

In a virtual interaction with the media in Delhi, former Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina said, “For the last two years, I watched my beloved Bangladesh suffer…This is not the Bangladesh we built, this is not the Bangladesh for which 3 million people sacrificed their lives in 1971.”

She added, “Let me begin with the truth about July and August 2024. It was not a peaceful student movement. From the beginning, my government tried to resolve the issue peacefully through dialogue, legal process, and patience. But behind the language of reform, organised groups were working to turn students demand into violent political instrument.”

Hasina broke down while remembering her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and the rest of her slain family members and said, “They want to erase Mujibur Rahman.” The Awami League President added that the ban on her party should be lifted ⁠and ​reiterated that she would return to her country.

When asked about her plans to return to Bangladesh, Hasina said she will return to Dhaka by December this year. “They may arrest me on my return, they may even kill me … still, I have to go,” she maintains.

In a message to the global community, Hasina said, “I call upon the international community and all the friends of Bangladesh to stand with the people of Bangladesh in their struggle for democracy, justice and peace. A stable Bangladesh matters for South Asia and for the Bay of Bengal.”

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