Sheikh Hasina Breaks Silence on Bangladesh’s Political Crisis, Outlines Vision for the Future

In a world-exclusive piece for The WEEK, former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina opens up, providing her perspective on the country’s current political turmoil and sharing her vision for Bangladesh’s future.

Part memoir, part manifesto, Sheikh Hasina’s essay offers a deeply personal and political account, reflecting on her decades-long struggle to defend democracy, her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s legacy as the nation’s founding leader, and her concerns that Bangladesh may be slipping back into a period of dictatorship and division.

Sheikh Hasina recalls that under her leadership, Bangladesh became one of South Asia’s fastest-growing economies, achieving remarkable progress in women’s empowerment, poverty reduction, and infrastructure development. She attributes these accomplishments to “ordinary Bangladeshis, not politicians.”

The former prime minister criticizes the interim government, led by Nobel laureate Mohammad Yunus, accusing it of suppressing media freedom, imprisoning her political allies, and intimidating minorities and opposition voices. “Democracy cannot flourish in fear, and the Bangladesh I know was not built on fear,” Sheikh Hasina emphasizes.

Sheikh Hasina warns that “true democracy cannot exist while our country is governed by a head of state with no electoral mandate.”

“Bangladesh is now ruled by an unaccountable elite paying lip service to democracy while the country cries out for free and fair elections,” Sheikh Hasina writes, describing the current state as “a betrayal of the people’s faith in the ballot.”

According to Sheikh Hasina, Dr. Yunus is not truly in control of the country. She asserts, “…the truth is that Dr. Yunus is not really in control at all. Islamist factions linked to terrorist organizations such as Hizb ut-Tahrir have been allowed to gain a foothold in civil life, spreading hardline ideologies that oppress some of the most vulnerable members of society.”

Despite the challenges, Sheikh Hasina remains hopeful that Bangladesh, “at a pivotal crossroads fighting for democratic integrity, constitutional freedoms, and fundamental human rights,” will once again return to “true democracy.”

Source: THE WEEK