We escaped death by 25 mins: Hasina flags bids on life

Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was forced to flee the country following unprecedented protests in August last year, has said she and her younger sister Sheikh Rehana escaped death by “just 20-25 minutes” and termed her survival the “will of Allah (God)”.

In an audio clip shared on the Facebook page of her party, the Bangladesh Awami League, Hasina said she was suffering after her home was burned down by protesters last year. “I am suffering, I am without my country, my home, everything has been burned,” she said.

Hasina alleged numerous conspiracies to kill her over the years, saying: “We escaped death by just 20-25 minutes. I feel surviving the killings on August 21, surviving the bomb in Kotalipara, or surviving on August 5, 2024, there must be a will of Allah. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have survived this time…. I am still alive because Allah wants me to do something more,” she said.

Hasina, 76, who is in India after fleeing the country, referred to the August 21, 2004, grenade attack, which she escaped with injuries. The incident left at least 24 persons dead. The former PM also cited the July 2000 Kotalipara incident in which bombs were recovered at a college that she was supposed to visit.

She said her opponents wanted to kill her, however, she survived since God wanted her to do something more for Bangladesh. Hasina is the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who is known as the “Father of Bangladesh”.

On August 5 last year, security forces had given Hasina 45 minutes to evacuate her official Ganabhaban residence citing threat to her life.