Exiled former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is set to hold her first press conference in India today and she’ll go on to dispel many rumours about the format of the meeting. The former leader will not speak at the meeting, has been told to reporters and media sources. She will be speaking via live audio link to the media professionals at the event. She will start with a short statement as a thank you to the journalists who will be present, and not just send a pre-recorded message, she will be on the internet all week.
One of the questions which has been repeatedly raised about the event is whether she will have her own question-and-answer session with reporters at the end of the conference. It is all her choice to take questions; she will decide because she has a clear understanding of her role and will decide on the evening of the conference. The high-profile event will be held on 5 August, the second anniversary of her falling out of power in India. The Foreign Correspondents Club of South Asia is organizing the event as it is being held on the theme of a homecoming. Many prominent personalities are expected to attend, including her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy, former education minister Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury and Bangladesh Human Rights Watch General Secretary Engg. Md. Ali Siddiqui will speak.
In the run up to the event, there were conflicting reports on different media in India and Bangladesh. Some media outlets suggested she would make a public display via video link, and others portrayed the meeting as a two-year anniversary of her loss of power interview. This talk will be conducted after a previous political message was given in January when a recorded statement was played for international and Indian journalists at an Awami League event organized by Awami League supporters. In that speech she launched harsh criticism of the interim government headed by Muhammad Yunus, which she says is illegal.
The political climate surrounding the former Prime Minister remains highly tense as she is currently in jail after being convicted by a tribunal in Dhaka and has publicly dismissed it as a one-sided and illegal process. As the anniversary week approaches, people and media houses keep an eye on the situation, and will be closely monitoring her live audio speech from exile.
