Exiled PM Sheikh Hasina vows return to Bangladesh
Sheikh Hasina vowed to return to Bangladesh despite facing a death penalty, telling supporters that fear could not decide her "duty to the people." Ousted
Sheikh Hasina vowed to return to Bangladesh despite facing a death penalty, telling supporters that fear could not decide her "duty to the people." Ousted former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said Wednesday that she plans to return to Bangladesh from exile in India in December. She faces a death sentence at home over a deadly crackdown on protesters in 2024. Hasina spoke during a media event in New Delhi hosted by the Foreign Correspondents' Club of South Asia. It marked the second anniversary of the uprising that forced her out of power. It was her first time speaking to the media since she fled the country. While she had been expected to appear on video, she only delivered an audio message from behind a blank screen. It remains unclear why she chose not to show her face, since other Awami League leaders and her son, who had spoken earlier, had appeared on camera. Sheikh Hasina delivered a virtual address with audio only Image: Anushree Fadnavis/REUTERS Sajeeb Wazed Joy, the son of Sheikh Hasina, addresses reporters via video link Image: Anushree Fadnavis/REUTERS What did Sheikh Hasina say? "I will return to my people," Hasina said.
She added that she would share the exact date and details of her return at a later time. "I know that they may put me in jail, or they may kill me, or anything may happen, but still I have to go back," she said. "Fear cannot decide my duty to the people." Hasina fled to India in 2024 after student-led protests ended her tenure as prime minister, a role she had held for a total of 20 years spread across two terms. In 2025, a Bangladeshi court convicted her in absentia of crimes against humanity for her role in the violent crackdown on student-led protests in 2024. The United Nations said close to 1,400 people were killed. She was sentenced to death. Hasina denies the charges and calls the case politically motivated. How has it impacted Bangladesh-India relations? Relations between Bangladesh and its neighbor have been strained since Hasina fled there. Dhaka has repeatedly sought Hasina's extradition, while India said it had received the request and was reviewing it. Bangladesh's foreign ministry criticized Wednesday's event, calling it an insult to the country's sovereignty. It said letting Hasina speak publicly to the press was "deeply hurtful" and that Bangladesh was "outraged." The government of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman had also warned local media a day earlier not to publish her remarks, citing a 2024 court order that prohibited the broadcasting or publication of her statements.
The BriefWire