Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on 15 August 2025 accused anti-Awami League and anti-Bangladesh forces of executing what she called a 'grand project' to reverse Bangladesh's post-Liberation identity and transform the country into a Pakistani political and cultural replica. Her remarks came as Bangladesh observed National Mourning Day, marking the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The Occasion and Its Significance

Bangladesh observes 15 August each year as National Mourning Day, commemorating the killing of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman — widely regarded as the 'Father of the Nation' — along with several members of his family on 15 August 1975. The day holds deep political resonance for the Awami League, which traces its foundational identity to Mujibur Rahman's legacy and the 1971 Liberation War.

What Hasina Said

In a statement shared by the Awami League on X, Hasina alleged that the 1975 assassination was carried out by a group of military officers with the 'direct and indirect support of pro-Pakistan forces.' She argued that the killing was, in effect, an act of revenge by the military establishment acting as a proxy for Pakistan's defeat in 1971.

'August 15 is a day of profound pain and mourning for the Bengali nation. On this day in 1975, the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was assassinated along with most of his family members. At a time when the war-ravaged new state was being rebuilt amid thousands of challenges, a group of military officers, with the direct and indirect support of pro-Pakistan forces, carried out the assassination,' Hasina said.

She further alleged that the 21 years following the assassination amounted to a sustained effort to recast Bangladesh politically and culturally along Pakistani lines — a process she claimed was only partially interrupted during Awami League's periods in government.

On the July 2024 Upheaval

Referring to the July 2024 protests and the political upheaval that followed, Hasina said that after 'massive bloodshed and loss of life,' the Awami League government was ousted, and all anti-Awami League and anti-Bangladesh forces joined what she described as a 'grand project to turn Bangladesh into Pakistan once again.'

'The result is that the country has been plunged into the darkness of widespread anarchy. The footsteps of famine are being heard in the economy. Poor people are spending their days hungry or half-fed. For Awami League supporters, minorities, and women, Bangladesh has become a country of constant fear and insecurity,' she said.

Hasina also claimed that during her government's 15-year tenure from 2009 to 2024, Bangladesh had steered away from what she described as a Pakistani trajectory and become 'an extraordinary story of growth in the eyes of the world' — a period she said was shadowed throughout by the preparation of conspirators.

Her Pledge

In her concluding remarks, Hasina pledged to return to Bangladesh to fulfil what she described as the responsibility entrusted to her — to change the fate of the people and realise the 'unfinished dream' of the Father of the Nation. She has been living outside Bangladesh since her government's ouster following the July 2024 political crisis.

Her remarks are likely to intensify an already fraught political climate in Dhaka, where the current administration and the Awami League remain in sharp confrontation over the events of last year.