Bangladesh’s ousted leader Hasina denounces the upcoming election from her exile in India

Sheikh Hasina, the deposed leader of Bangladesh, who is in exile in India, harshly criticized the upcoming elections in the country after her party was banned from the ballot box; These remarks could deepen tensions ahead of crucial votes next month.

Hasina, who was sentenced to death in 2024 for crushing a student uprising that killed hundreds of people and resulted in the overthrow of her 15-year rule, warned in an email to The Associated Press last week that Bangladesh would face long-term instability without inclusive, free and fair elections.

He also alleged that Bangladesh’s interim government, led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, deliberately disenfranchised millions of his supporters by excluding his own party (the former ruling Awami League) from the elections.

“Each time a significant portion of the population is prevented from participating in politics, it deepens resentment, delegitimizes institutions, and creates the conditions for future instability.” he wrote.

“A government born of exclusion cannot unite a divided nation,” Hasina added.

An anxious choice

More than 127 million people in Bangladesh have the right to vote in the February 12 elections, the first since Hasina was ousted from power following the country’s most significant and massive uprising in decades.

Younis’s interim administration is steering the process, and voters are also weighing in on a proposed constitutional referendum on sweeping political reforms. The campaign began last week with rallies in the capital Dhaka and other places.

Yunus returned to Bangladesh and took over three days after Hasina fled to India on August 5, 2024, following weeks of violent unrest. He has promised free and fair elections, but critics question whether the process will meet democratic standards and be truly inclusive following the ban of Hasina’s Awami League.

There are also concerns about security and uncertainty surrounding the referendum, which could lead to major changes to the constitution.

Yunus’s office said in a statement to the AP that security forces will ensure that the elections take place in an orderly manner and will not allow anyone to influence the outcome through coercion or violence. The statement stated that international observers and human rights groups were invited to monitor the process.

About 500 foreign observers, including those from the European Union and the Commonwealth, are expected to monitor the Feb. 12 election, the Electoral Commission said.

Worries about what will happen in the future

Since Hasina’s ouster, Bangladesh has faced a number of political and security challenges.

Human rights and minority groups accused interim authorities of failing to protect civil and political rights. While Hasina’s party claimed that its members were arbitrarily arrested and killed in custody, the government denied these allegations.

Critics have also raised concerns about the growing influence of Islamist groups and attacks on minorities, especially Hindus.

Concerns about press freedom also increase during the Yunus period; Several journalists face criminal charges, and the offices of two of the country’s leading newspapers have been attacked by angry protesters.

Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, led by 60-year-old Tarique Rahman, has emerged as the leading candidate in the voting.

Rahman, the son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, Hasina’s chief rival who died last month, returned home in December after living in self-imposed exile for more than 17 years. He promised to work for the stability of this South Asian country of 170 million people.

Rahman’s main rival in February’s elections is a coalition of 11 allied groups led by Jamaat-e-Islami, an Islamist party.

During Hasina’s time, Jamaat-e-Islami was under serious pressure and was barred from elections. Its top leaders faced death or imprisonment on war crime charges related to Bangladesh’s 1971 war of independence against Pakistan.

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) boycotted the 2014 and 2024 elections. The party contested elections in 2018 but later accused Hasina of rigging the elections.

Hasina says nation must ‘heal its wounds’

Critics have long accused Hasina of presiding over an increasingly authoritarian system. He has also faced criticism for the suppression of dissent and his political opponents; Security agencies under his government faced accusations of enforced disappearance.

Still, Hasina dismissed as a “kangaroo court” the Bangladesh court that sentenced her to death in absentia on charges of crimes against humanity for the killings in the uprising.

International rights groups have expressed concerns about the fairness of the trial.

In an email to the AP, Hasina said that to move forward, Bangladesh must break the cycle of political bans and boycotts. He argued that some elections during his government were “not truly participatory because major political parties chose to boycott democratic processes.”

“I realize this is far from ideal,” he said, adding that political parties in Bangladesh must now end this cycle. “Otherwise there will be no salvation.”

The country “needs a legitimate government” that will be governed “with the genuine consent of the people”, he added.

“This is the best way to heal the wounds of the nation,” he said.

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Saaliq reported from New Delhi.