Sheikh Hasina Will Join Only Through Audio Link, May Take Questions | Exclusive On On August 5 Event

Published 3 August 2026 · local

Sheikh Hasina Will Join Only Through Audio Link, May Take Questions | Exclusive On On August 5 Event Reported By, Last Updated: August 03, 2026

Sheikh Hasina Will Join Only Through Audio Link, May Take Questions | Exclusive On On August 5 Event Reported By, Last Updated: August 03, 2026, 19:50 IST Sources close to Sheikh Hasina have exclusively told News18 that she will not be visible during the course of the interaction Rapid Read Sheikh Hasina ruled Bangladesh as PM for more than 15 years. (AFP photo) Ever since exiled former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announced her first press conference this week in Delhi, some misinformation has emerged in sections of the media, both in India as well as in Bangladesh, about the contours of the interaction. Sources close to Hasina have exclusively told News18 that she will not be visible during the course of the interaction. The former Bangladeshi Prime Minister will be joined through an audio link. “She will make a short statement.

It will be a ‘Thank You’ note to all the journalists present. But it needs to be clarified that it won’t be an audio which will be played. She will join live through an audio link," said a source close to Sheikh Hasina. The content of her speech is not yet known to even her inner coterie at this moment. News18 has learnt that the former Bangladeshi Prime Minister will remain online throughout the event. The big question is will she take questions from journalists? “It is her discretion. She will decide that evening whether she wants to indulge in a few questions and answers," said the source. On August 5, the anniversary of her ouster from power two years ago, she will hold the first press conference in India in exile. The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of South Asia will host the event where her son Sajeb Wajed Joy, former education minister Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury, General Secretary of Bangladesh Human Rights Watch Engg.

Md. Ali Siddiqui, among others, will be speaking. The event is projected as ‘Sheikh Hasina’s Homecoming’. Bangladeshi news media BDNews24 headlined, ‘2 years of loss of power: On 5th Aug Hasina will virtually appear’. In fact, few prominent Indian media outlets too gave a sense of “first public appearance since ouster" creating a narrative that Hasina may appear through a video link. The deposed Bangladesh Prime Minister last decided this January to deliver a recorded political address. The speech was played before Indian and international journalists at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club Of South Asia (FCC) at an event organised by Awami League leaders and supporters where she launched a scathing attack on Md Yunus’ interim government calling it “illegal, foreign-serving puppet regime." Hasina currently faces a death sentence in Dhaka, handed down by a tribunal which she calls “one-sided" and “illegal". News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit About the Author Anindya Banerjee Anindya Banerjee, Associate Editor brings over fifteen years of journalistic courage to the forefront.