Exiled Sheikh Hasina announces plans to return to Bangladesh: ‘They may kill me'

Bangladesh’s ousted former Prime Minister Hasina Wajid, currently living in exile in India, has decided to return to her home country to surrender for her crimes in December this year.

Hasina’s political party Bangladesh Awami League has been banned since the successful student led movement dethroned her two years ago and she fled without facing the law. Former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal is also expected to return and surrender alongside the former PM.

In an hour-long interview with Reuters on Friday, the former Bangladesh PM said she would return to her country voluntarily, adding, “They may arrest me on my return, they may even kill me. Still, I have to go.”

She alleged that her party was facing severe persecution and repression. Hasina said: “The government in Dhaka wants to take me back, they are repeatedly sending letters to India seeking to have me sent back. I will go myself.”

It is pertinent to note that Hasina ordered a deadly crackdown on student-led protests in 2024 which resulted in the killing of around 1,400 people. Bangladesh’s war-crimes court sentenced her to death in November in her absence; however, the 78-year-old politician has denied the accusations.

Her decision to return comes after Bangladesh has repeatedly urged India to extradite her.

The Tariq Rahman-led government has not yet reacted to Hasina Wajid’s announcement.