NEW DELHI: Former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina has said she intends to return to Bangladesh from self-imposed exile in India around December despite facing a death sentence and the ban on her Awami League party.
In a telephone interview with Reuters, the 78-year-old said she and several senior Awami League leaders planned to return voluntarily and surrender before the courts to challenge the legal proceedings against them.
Hasina acknowledged that she could be arrested or even killed upon her return but said she remained determined to go back, citing what she described as continued repression of her party’s leaders and supporters.
“If death comes, I want it to come on my own soil,” she said, referring to Bangladesh, where her parents are buried after being killed in 1975.
Hasina fled Bangladesh in 2024 after nationwide protests ended her two-decade rule as prime minister. In November, Bangladesh’s war crimes tribunal sentenced her to death in absentia over allegations of ordering a deadly crackdown on a student-led uprising. She has rejected the charges.
She said she had not consulted any foreign government regarding her return and insisted that she would travel back voluntarily despite repeated efforts by the Bangladeshi authorities to seek her extradition from India.
“They want to take me back and are repeatedly sending letters to India seeking my extradition. I will go myself,” she said.
A return by Hasina is expected to deepen political tensions in Bangladesh as the interim government seeks to restore stability following two years of political unrest. The move could also influence relations between Bangladesh and India, which have remained strained since New Delhi granted her refuge.
Bangladesh has repeatedly requested India to extradite the former prime minister, while India’s foreign ministry has previously said it was examining the request and intended to maintain constructive engagement with Bangladesh’s new government.
Hasina, one of Bangladesh’s most influential political figures, said cases had been registered against many Awami League leaders and workers, forcing several of them into hiding.
She said the party’s leadership planned to surrender together before the courts to demonstrate its confidence in the legal process.
“I believe in justice and once proceedings begin, people will see how farcical the court is. I want to prove that,” she said.
Hasina declined to specify the exact date of her return or identify the court before which she intended to surrender.
Reflecting on her time in office, she acknowledged that mistakes could occur during a long tenure in government but maintained that the final judgment should rest with the people.
“When a government works for a long time, mistakes can happen. No government is above error. But the right to judge a government belongs to the people,” she said.
Hasina also said she had been holding online meetings covering 125 of Bangladesh’s 300 parliamentary constituencies as part of efforts to reorganise the Awami League.
“They may have convicted me and I may not be able to contest elections, but why should they suspend the Awami League? If we have done badly, let the people decide,” she said.
