'Bangladesh in chaos...Yunus a greedy man': What exiled Sheikh Hasina said in her first public speech | Full text

Bangladesh’s former prime minister Sheikh Hasina made her very first public address since her ouster in August earlier this week when she condemned the attacks against minorities in the past couple of weeks.

Hasina addressed an event in New York virtually where she accused the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government of being “greedy” and said the administration is involved in “genocide.”

A Bangladeshi court on Thursday put an embargo on the broadcast of Sheikh Hasina’s recent address that it labelled as “hate speech”.

The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), which has issued an arrest warrant against the former prime minister, has ordered a ban on the broadcast of Hasina’s speech in Bangladesh.

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“Sheikh Hasina is accused in several cases currently under investigation by the tribunal,” prosecutor Golam Monawar Hossain Tamim told reporters.

Full text of her speech:

My father, brother and all others were imprisoned. The victory of 1971 was hard-won by my family for Bangladeshis.

The great freedom struggle in 1971 was for the common people, the downtrodden and the Awami League fought for it. We fought for the rights of people. The aim was to free the oppressed. My father (Sheikh Mujibur Rahman) was determined to go through any torture for the freedom of the people.

When on the night of 25 March, 1971, Pakistanis had initiated genocide, all of us suffered. He was placed under house arrest by Pakistani soldiers on 25 March, midnight, just after declaring Bangladesh as independent. What the population suffered under Pakistan’s rule cannot be narrated in words. Mujibur was ready to give his life for his people. Remember his iconic speech for freedom on 7 March in 1971, where he declared that this fight is a fight for liberty, fight for freedom? He asked the people to be prepared for war with whatever they had and fight for their independence.

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My father then created a council for fighting for freedom and it was that group which led to the freedom of the country. But he was arrested. He was kept in jail in Pakistan. He suffered a lot. We had asked for help from India which helped us a lot. India joined the war on 3 December, 1971, and that helped us.

Post-independence, my mother, my sister (Sheikh) Rehana, brother (Sheikh) Russell were all picked up, tortured and put in jail. That was painful. They were released on 16 December. We were still jailed. On 17 December, we were released.

We suffered for the people and the people stood by us. We are thankful for that. On 16 December, the constitution was adopted which had heard the demands of every Bangladeshi.

On 15 august, 1975, my father, along with his family members—my mother Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib, my brothers Sheikh Russel, Sheikh Kamal, Sheikh Jamal—were mercilessly killed. My 5-year-old niece was killed. My only uncle Sheikh Abu Naser was killed, too.

The history of Bangladesh is distorted. Post the killing of my family, martial law was put in place. Fundamental rights of the citizens were snatched. Every Awami League worker was arrested and jailed. My sister and I were not here at the time. After the coup, we were barred from returning to Bangladesh. On 17 May, 1981…Awami League council decided that I should be brought back and reinstated.

Despite America’s attempts, I came back because of the love of the Bangladeshis and the power they gave me. I then established a government.

In 2001, a conspiracy was hatched to not let me come back to power. I was arrested. It was chaos and Awami League workers were killed and a terrorist state was created….

I want to address the expatriates, that whenever I returned to Bangladesh, I got your support. The expatriates have also contributed to the Bangladeshi struggle. We humbly acknowledge the contribution of the expatriates in all parts of Bangladesh, be it economic, political or legal.

Today, when Bangladesh is in a chaotic situation, stripped of its rights even globally, the expatriates have stood by us. I am ecstatic to be able to talk to all of you. When I was arrested in 2007, there were various incidents, but elections were held and Awami League won 233 seats, while then BNP (Bangladesh Nationalist Party), Jamaat (Jamaat-e-Islami) and independents just won 30 seats.

In 2009, we came back to power till 2024.

We have been voted consistently to power because Awami League has always worked for the benefit of its people. I have made sure everyone earns. The impoverished were looked after and average poverty was reduced. Poverty has been cut by half.

Bangladesh saw 6.94 percent economic growth in the 2020-21 fiscal year…later, Covid-19 and a few wars affected our economy a bit.

Our economy was stable, growing at a rate of 7.2 percent, despite the wars and Covid-19, unlike under the earlier BNP govt. We made a budget for this year at Tk 7,97,000 crore—unprecedented in the history of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh’s economy is the 35th largest in the world because of all these economic measures.

It was our aim to make Bangladesh the best economy by 2021. I had written about this while in jail in 2007. We will make Bangladesh prosper to increase the dignity of the people and make the economy stronger. We fulfill all our promises.

In 2021, Bangladesh was recognised as one of the fastest-growing economies. Since 1975, no government had been able to stabilise the economy. It was only under the Awami League’s leadership, during the golden jubilee year of our independence struggle, that we achieved this milestone.

No one was without food in the country, trade and development was going well, books were given for free, education was also supported, and higher education was funded well with scholarships. We also ensured that crops grown in winter are grown well all year long. We ensured electricity in all homes. In 2006, Bangladesh had an electricity generation capacity of only 3,000 MW. Under our leadership, we increased it to 5,000 MW. Earlier, only those who could afford electricity had access to it, now everyone can access it. From 2009 to 2024, the growth of Bangladesh was the reason behind Awami League’s repeated re-election, although the opposition boycotted it.

The quota issue was suddenly brought up again, despite it being abolished in 2018. I had ended it following the protests. Yet, they shifted their focus to attacking the freedom fighters—those who shed their blood, sacrificed their lives, and whose families endured loss for this nation. Had they not fought, would the country be free today? Today Bangladesh is free because of these people. They are the ones who were attacked. This is completely shocking.

The youth of our country, those who are perhaps 15 years or younger, I want to tell you something.

From 2009 to now, do you know the condition of the country? Before 1971 did anyone have education, or a mobile phone in their hands? No! I ensured that everyone has a telephone and everyone has a mobile phone. TV, mobiles, banks, aircraft, helicopter services and industrial services were provided for this country’s betterment.

Freelancers in urban and rural areas were trained for employment. We ensured reservation in education, training in computer and technical training in zonal areas as well. Awami league ensured Wi-Fi connections and satellites so that communication faces no hurdle. No one apart from us did any of this because the BNP and others had no intention of doing any such things. We brought the first satellite. In 2023, internet users were 77.36 million and 18 crore people used sim cards. We ensured digital centres and 3,000 digital sewas for the country. We have 7 lakhs freelancers and this is how we ensured the country grew.