DHAKA: Bangladesh warned the country’s media not to publicise the statements of exiled former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who is due to give a virtual address on Wednesday from India to mark the second anniversary of the uprising that ousted her.
Hasina has remained in India since the student-led protests toppled her government in 2024. She was sentenced to death in 2025 for crimes against humanity over her crackdown on the demonstrations, a verdict she has dismissed as legally void.
The 78-year-old is due to make her first public appearance, albeit by video link, since she fled Dhaka, at an event hosted by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of South Asia in New Delhi alongside her son, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, and other speakers.
Dhaka proposes death penalty for enforced disappearances
Hasina’s aides have not shared details of the contents of her address, but the former premier told Reuters last month that she and party colleagues plan to return from exile around December and present themselves in court, a move that would test how Bangladesh’s new government handles its most prominent political opponent.
‘Private event’
Information Adviser Zahed Ur Rahman warned Bangladeshi media on Tuesday that announcing or publicising Hasina’s planned speech would violate a Dec 2024 order by Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal that prohibits media outlets and social media platforms from publishing or broadcasting Hasina’s speeches, statements, interviews, and audio or video messages.
Hasina aide Abu Obaidha Arin said the event would go ahead, adding that Dhaka’s “efforts to silence dissent cannot extinguish voices” beyond the country’s borders.
Bangladesh had asked New Delhi to clarify its stance on Hasina’s planned address, warning India that allowing political activities by a fugitive could hurt improving bilateral ties.
Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said Wednesday’s event was being organised by a private media entity.
“The government has no involvement whatsoever in it, neither does it endorse any views that may be expressed at the forum,” he told a regular media briefing. The fresh tension between the neighbours comes as Dhaka continues to seek Hasina’s extradition from India.
Bangladesh’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam said Bangladesh had repeatedly conveyed its concerns to India over Hasina and other Awami League leaders making political statements from Indian soil.
Enforced disappearances
Bangladesh’s government has proposed the death penalty for enforced disappearances after an official inquiry recorded more than 1,500 cases during deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s 17-year rule.
Hasina, who was toppled in a 2024 uprising, was accused of using the security forces to crush dissent, with many of those detained coming from her political rivals in the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami.
Published in Dawn, August 5th, 2026
