‘We Escaped Death By 20-25 Minutes’: Sheikh Hasina Alleges Assassination Plot

New Delhi: Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has alleged that there were attempts to assassinate her and her sister Sheikh Rehana after she was ousted from power by a students-led protest movement in August 2024.

“Rehana and I managed to survive. We barely escaped the clutches of death by 20-25 minutes,” Hasina was heard saying in Bengali in an audio message shared by her party Awami League on Facebook.

Hasina managed to escape from Dhaka and flew to India after resigning as Prime Minister on August 5, shortly before an angry, unruly mob ransacked her official residence Ganabhaban.

“I feel it is the will of Allah that I have survived the killings on August 21 (2004), the bombing in Kotalipara (July 2000) or surviving on August 5 (2024). Otherwise, I would not have been able to survive,” she said.

Hasina was referring to the 2004 grenade attack in Dhaka, which killed 24 people. At that time a leader of Opposition, Hasina sustained some injuries while addressing a rally. In the Kotalipara conspiracy incident, bombs were recovered from a college where Hasina was supposed to visit.

“You later saw how they planned to kill me. However, it seems to be a mercy of Allah that I am still alive because Allah wants me to do something more,” Hasina said in the audio message.

She broke broke down while saying, “I am suffering, I am without my country, without my home, everything has been burned.”

Hasina, who has been in exile in India since August, is wanted in Bangladesh for corruption.

The interim government, headed by Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus, has officially asked the Indian government to extradite Hasina. The International Crimes Tribunal in Bangladesh has issued two arrest warrants for Hasina for alleged enforced disappearances during her 15-year rule.

Bangladesh has also revoked passports of Hasina and 96 others, citing alleged involvement in killings and forced disappearances linked to the last year’s students protests.