‘Rehana and I escaped death by just 20-25 min’: Ex-Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina alleges conspiracy to kill her and sister

Bangladesh Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has alleged that there was a conspiracy to kill her and her younger sister, Sheikh Rehana, the moment she was ousted from power.

While posting an audio speech on the Facebook page of her Bangladesh Awami League party late on Friday, she said, “Rehana and I survived - just 20-25 minutes apart, we escaped death.”

Sheikh Hasina, aged 77, was ousted from power in August 2024 following a significant student-led revolution that highlighted widespread discontent with her government.

‘Still alive because Allah wants me to do something more’ says Sheikh Hasina

She recalled that there were conspiracies to kill her at various times. "I just feel that surviving the killings on August 21 or surviving the huge bomb in Kotalipara, surviving on this time August 5, 2024, there must be a will of Allah, a hand of Allah", she said, as reported by ANI.

“Otherwise, I'm not going to survive this time! You later saw how they planned to kill me,” Hasina said in the audio, as reported by ANI. "However, it seems to be a mercy of Allah that I am still alive because Allah wants me to do something more", she said. 

In an emotionally tearful voice, she added, “Although I am suffering, I am without my country, without my home; everything has been burned.”

Bangladesh crisis

In August 2023, a student-led movement ousted Bangladesh's Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, after weeks of protests and clashes that killed over 600 people. Hasina, 76, fled to India, and an interim government led by Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus was formed.

Past assasination attempts on Sheikh Hasina

2004 Dhaka grenade attack

The 2004 Dhaka grenade attack took place at an anti-terrorism rally organised by Awami League on Bangabandhu Avenue on August 21, 2004. The attack left 24 dead and more than 500 injured. The attack was carried out at 5:22 pm after Sheikh Hasina, the then leader of the opposition, had finished addressing a crowd of 20,000 people from the back of a truck. Hasina also sustained some injuries in the attack.

Kotalipara bomb in 2000

The Kotalipara bomb was another plot to kill Sheikh Hasina that she referred to in her audio message. The 76kg bomb was recovered on July 21, 2000, and two days later, the 40 kg bomb was recovered at Sheikh Lutfor Rahman Ideal College in Kotalipara, where Awami League President and the then leader of the opposition Sheikh Hasina was supposed to address the rally on July 22, 2000.

Meanwhile, a Bangladeshi court on January 6, 2025, issued a second arrest warrant for former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is currently in exile in India, according to an AFP report. The latest warrant is linked to Hasina's alleged involvement in enforced disappearances during her tenure as Bangladesh prime minister, where over 500 individuals were reportedly abducted by security forces and detained in secret facilities. Sheikh Hasina was declared an absconder for not surrendering after leaving Dhaka on August 5, 2024.

(With inputs from ANI)