‘A terror attack on Bangladesh’: Sheikh Hasina alleges US-Pakistan conspiracy behind student revolt

Breaking her months-long silence since fleeing Bangladesh, former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that the student uprising that led to her ouster was “a terror attack planned by America and executed by Pakistan.” Speaking to The Print, Hasina described the events of July-August last year as a foreign-backed conspiracy designed to remove her from power. 

“Don’t call it a revolution! It was a terror attack on Bangladesh disguised as a students’ revolt planned by America and executed by Pakistan,” Hasina told the outlet. “It was done to remove me from power. The killings were not done by police — they were done by terrorists and blamed on my government to turn public opinion against me.” 

Hasina was forced to flee Bangladesh on August 5 last year, following weeks of mass protests that left over 1,400 people dead. The unrest, which began as a student demonstration against job quota policies, quickly evolved into a nationwide movement demanding her resignation. 

Hasina, who governed Bangladesh for more than 15 years, fled the country on the advice of Army Chief Waker-Uz-Zaman as demonstrators marched towards her Dhaka residence. Since then, she has reportedly been living in a government-provided safehouse in Delhi. 

Alleged US and Yunus’ role 

Hasina directly accused Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus of orchestrating her removal “at the behest of the Americans,” claiming the US had demanded control over St. Martin’s Island — a strategic territory in the Bay of Bengal. 

“You know who is the main man behind all of this? It is Yunus. The Americans wanted St. Martin’s Island from me. If I had agreed, they would not have removed me from power. But I did not agree to sell my country,” Hasina told The Print. “Yunus was behind the plotting, financing, and execution of the terror attack on Bangladesh during July-August last year at the behest of the Americans. He is a cheat who has destroyed his country for his ambitions.” 

She also alleged that Pakistan’s “fundamentalist forces” had long supported extremist networks within Bangladesh, continuing a pattern of interference that dates back to 1971. 

Political fallout in Bangladesh 

Following Hasina’s departure, an interim government led by Muhammad Yunus suspended the Awami League’s activities and its registration was revoked by the Election Commission in May. The Awami League — one of Bangladesh’s oldest political parties with deep family-based support — is now facing multiple legal battles, including charges against Hasina herself for alleged murders linked to the protest deaths. 

The trial concluded at the International Crimes Tribunal-1 in Dhaka, where prosecutors have sought the death penalty for Hasina. 

Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Election Commission is expected to announce a date for general elections in early December, with Yunus promising polls by February next year under pressure from the army and the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). 

Echoes of 1975 

Hasina’s current exile in India echoes the tragic history of 1975, when her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman — Bangladesh’s founding leader — and most of her family were assassinated by military officers. Hasina and her sister Sheikh Rehana Siddiq, who were abroad at the time, took refuge in India then as well. 

In her latest remarks, Hasina urged that her story be told globally. “Let the world see the true faces of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and the BNP. Tell the world how they destroyed public property, how they killed policemen, how they targeted Awami League supporters after August 5,” she said.