‘I will return, avenge martyrs’: Sheikh Hasina asks supporters to ‘be patient, stay united’

Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday urged Awami League supporters to remain calm as she vowed to avenge the deaths of party leaders who were killed in political violence under Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus’ administration.

Hasina addressed her supporters virtually, the second such speech she made since her ouster in August 2024. Speaking directly to five widows of Awami League leaders and their children who joined the call with her, Hasina said, “I will request all of you to have patience and stay united. I will return, avenge our martyrs. I will do justice like I did earlier. You have my word.”

The former PM’s party has claimed that more than 400 cadres have been killed by Islamist outfits and Jamaat-e-Islami members. Since the fall of Hasina’s Awami League government, party leaders, members, and their families have faced systematic targeting across Bangladesh.

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Accusing Yunus of perpetrating injustices in Bangladesh and being ‘guilty’ of violence, Hasina said, “Yunus has no experience of running a government. He dissolved all inquiry committees and unleashed the terrorists to butcher people. They are destroying Bangladesh. We will out this government of terrorists.”

Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party ( BNP ) has said that the interim government will hold the next general elections in December 2025. The announcement came after BNP officials held a meeting with Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus in Dhaka.