Ousted Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Friday announced her plans to return from exile in India later this year despite facing a death sentence and the banning of her Awami League party in Bangladesh. She also said that when she will return, the Tarique Rahman government might “arrest” or even “kill” her.
In her first interview since fleeing Bangladesh in 2024, the 78-year-old former premier told Reuters that she and several senior Awami League leaders intend to return around December and voluntarily surrender before the courts.
“They may arrest me on my return, they may even kill me. Still, I have to go,” Hasina said during the nearly hour-long telephone interview.
“My party leaders and workers are facing tremendous repression. If death comes, I want it to come on my own soil, where my parents are buried and where their blood was shed,” she added.
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Bangladesh-India Ties Strained By Exile
Hasina fled Bangladesh after a mass student-led uprising ended her two-decade rule. In November last year, Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal sentenced her to death in absentia over the deadly crackdown on anti-government protesters. She has consistently denied all charges.
Her planned return could become one of the biggest political flashpoints in Bangladesh since her ouster, with Dhaka repeatedly seeking her extradition from India.
Hasina said she had not consulted any foreign government about her return and would go back of her own accord.
“The authorities want to bring me back. They have repeatedly written to India seeking my extradition. I will return myself,” she said.
The former prime minister also revealed that senior Awami League leaders living in exile, including former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, who also faces a death sentence, plan to surrender alongside her.
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While she did not specify an exact date or the court where she would surrender, Hasina said she wanted legal proceedings to expose what she described as a politically motivated judicial process.
“I believe in justice. Once the proceedings begin, people will see how farcical the court is,” she said.
‘If We Have Governed Badly, Let Let People Decide’
Reflecting on her years in power, Hasina admitted that “mistakes can happen” during a long tenure but insisted the final verdict should belong to voters, not political rivals.
“If we have governed badly, let the people decide. They may have convicted me and I may not be able to contest elections, but why should they suspend the Awami League?” she said.
Hasina also claimed she has continued reorganising the party from exile, holding online meetings covering 125 of Bangladesh’s 300 parliamentary constituencies.
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