Bangladesh Summons Indian Envoy After Sheikh Hasina’s Explosive Interview

• By Thetripurapost Desk, Dhaka
• Nov 12, 2025
• 524

Bangladesh has lodged a diplomatic protest with India, summoning Indian Deputy High Commissioner Pawan Badhe in Dhaka just hours after an explosive interview by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to the Press Trust of India (PTI).

In her email interview, Hasina launched a scathing attack on the interim administration led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, accusing it of being “run by fundamentalists” and pursuing an “anti-India, self-defeating” foreign policy.

Hasina, who has been living in India since fleeing Bangladesh after the violent uprising of August 2024, said her return would only be possible once “democracy is restored, the ban on the Awami League is lifted, and free and fair elections are held.”

Calling Yunus a “weak, chaotic and extremist leader,” Hasina claimed that the interim government was damaging Bangladesh’s relations with India and empowering radical elements. She also accused the Yunus administration of “political vendetta” through cases filed against her before the Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal, describing it as a “kangaroo tribunal.”

Reaffirming her faith in India, Hasina said, “India was, is, and will remain Bangladesh’s greatest friend,” and assured that the current interim regime “does not represent the true voice of the Bangladeshi people.”

Hasina denied reports that she had called for a boycott of the upcoming February 2025 elections, but insisted that polls without the Awami League “cannot be considered valid.”

The former premier also alleged that Yunus initially enjoyed Western support but had since alienated them by “inducting extremists, marginalizing minorities, and weakening the constitution.”

Bangladesh has been under an interim government since Hasina’s 20-year rule collapsed in August 2024 following massive student-led protests over a controversial quota system.