Deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina has announced plans to return from exile in India around the next December, in a bid to surrender to Bangladesh authorities.
The 78-year-old leader, who faces a death sentence in her home country where her party is currently banned, told Reuters in a telephone interview on Friday that she and senior Awami League colleagues intend to return voluntarily to present themselves in court.
TIMES of Bangladesh, in a story titled “Hasina plans to face trial” published on 23 May, reported that Hasina had expressed a strong desire to return home as early as May this year to stand by party grassroots.
At that time, AL Joint General Secretary AFM Bahauddin Nasim confirmed that the party was preparing to mobilise a “massive gathering” for her arrival, which he described would be in a “heroic manner.”
Insiders suggested she might seek a travel pass from the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi, as her diplomatic passport has been revoked.
In the interview, Hasina acknowledged the significant risks associated with her return, stating, “They may arrest me on my return, they may even kill me.”
She added, “Still, I have to go,” expressing a desire to return to the land where her parents are buried. She clarified that she originally fled the country in 2024 because of “threats on her life as crowds advanced towards her residence” during a student-led uprising.
However, the ruling BNP government remains on high alert, viewing the proposed homecoming as a dangerous “political trap” designed to incite national chaos.
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman recently warned that the move is a “calculated ruse” intended to re-energise Awami League activists and trigger street protests. BNP policymakers fear that if the Supreme Court rejects any potential appeal against her death sentence, it could lead to severe political instability and “anarchy.”
Hasina told Reuters that the legal proceedings against her, including a death sentence for ordering a crackdown on protesters, as “farcical.”
She claimed that her surrender would prove this to the public and maintained she is not worried about imprisonment, citing her history of arrests in 1981 and 2007. Despite the legal pressure, she confirmed she has “not consulted with any foreign government on whether or when to return.”
The planned return of the country’s longest-serving leader is expected to test the current government’s stability and could impact the strained diplomatic ties between Dhaka and New Delhi.
While Bangladesh has repeatedly sought her extradition, India’s foreign ministry stated it was examining the request and remains committed to strengthening bilateral ties.
Hasina revealed she has been organising the party through online meetings covering 125 of Bangladesh’s 300 parliamentary constituencies.
Although she admitted her conviction may mean she is “not able to contest elections,” she questioned the suspension of her party, stating, “If we have done badly, let the people decide.”
She maintained that while “mistakes can happen” during a long-serving administration, the ultimate right to judge a government belongs to the people.
Hasina was a dominant figure in Bangladesh for half a century, thrust into the spotlight following the assassination of her father, an independence leader, and much of her family in a military coup.
While she was credited during her 20-year tenure with “turning around the economy of the Muslim-majority nation,” her rule also generated accusations of crushing dissent.
A United Nations report estimated that as many as 1,400 people were killed during the unrest that led to her downfall.
