WorldPosted at: Sep 19 2026 7:02PM


I am eager to return, but Bangladesh govt creating obstacles, says ex PM Sheikh Hasina

Dhaka, Sep 19 (UNI) Former Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina, chairing an online meeting of her Awami League party, stated that she intends to return to Bangladesh and questioned what she described as attempts by the BNP government to prevent her return.
"I am eager to return to the country, yet the government is creating obstacles," Hasina said, according to a party statement.
Hasina also said that the country's condition had continued to deteriorate, with every sector "on the verge of destruction", and stressed that steps were needed to protect the country from what she described as the prevailing situation.
In her address on Friday, Hasina said she had held consultations with leaders and activists across the party's 83 district branches and 160 electoral constituencies to assess the situation on the ground and the condition of the Awami League's organisation.
The Bangladesh Awami League's Central Executive Committee held a virtual meeting chaired by Presidium Member Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, with party President Sheikh Hasina addressing the meeting as chief guest, according to a statement issued by the party.
Hasina instructed party leaders responsible for organisational affairs to give priority to people who had faced persecution when filling leadership vacancies. She said the Awami League's strength remained with the people and its grassroots activists and leaders.
She also called for information to be gathered on people who had faced what she described as persecution and repression over the past two years, regardless of political affiliation, and for the identities and actions of those allegedly responsible to be made public.
Hasina further called for the release of military and civilian officials whom she said had been arrested in what she described as false cases.
Referring to the violence surrounding the July-August 2024 uprising, Hasina said law enforcement personnel had attempted to protect lives and property, and alleged that many police officers were killed, their bodies burned and police stations looted and set on fire. She called for judicial investigations into the killings.
She also alleged that the country was now facing indiscriminate killings, rape, looting, extortion and the filing of cases, and accused the government of allowing such activities.
Addressing party leaders and activists, she said they should remain alongside the people despite persecution and death sentences and build resistance with them.
The meeting was moderated by Awami League Liberation War Affairs Secretary Advocate Mrinal Kanti Das. General Secretary Obaidul Quader, Presidium Members Mofazzel Hossain Chowdhury Maya and Jahangir Kabir Nanak, Joint General Secretary AFM Bahauddin Nasim, Organising Secretaries SM Kamal Hossain and Sujit Roy Nandi, party member Mohammad Ali Arafat and Deputy Secretary Raymond Areng were among those who spoke, according to the Awami League.
Party leaders also called for the cancellation of death sentences handed down by what they described as an "illegal" International Crimes Tribunal against Hasina and other Awami League leaders, and demanded that the tribunal itself be abolished.
The party statement said the meeting expressed concern over the country's political and socio-economic situation, including the transition to a democratic system, shortages and security concerns surrounding oil, gas, water and electricity, law and order and what it described as economic deadlock.
The Awami League also rejected the recent tribunal rulings against Hasina and several senior party figures, describing the charges as baseless and fabricated and arguing that the tribunal had no legal basis.
The statement named Obaidul Quader, AFM Bahauddin Nasim, Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, Mohammad Ali Arafat, Sheikh Fazle Shams Parash, Mainul Hossain Khan Nikhil, Saddam Hossain and Sheikh Wali Asif Enan among those sentenced.
Following the discussions, the committee adopted a series of demands, including reductions in the prices of essential goods; uninterrupted supplies of electricity, oil, gas and fertiliser; employment measures for workers who have lost their jobs; the reopening of closed factories and industries; and the release of political prisoners.
The party also called for all cases it considers false to be withdrawn, the ban on the Awami League to be lifted, the abolition of what it described as the illegal tribunal and its death sentences, and the withdrawal of cases against military and civilian officials whom it considers innocent, along with the release of those who have been arrested.
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Tags: #I am eager to return# but Bangladesh govt creating obstacles# says ex PM Sheikh Hasina
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