Ousted Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina has, for the first time, announced a definite timeline for her return to Bangladesh, saying she and senior leaders of the Awami League plan to return from exile in India around December and surrender before the courts.
Speaking in an exclusive interview to Reuters, the former PM said she intends to voluntarily return despite facing a death sentence in the country and the possibility of arrest or even death.
"They may arrest me on my return, they may even kill me. Still, I have to go," Hasina said.
Explaining her decision, she added, "My party leaders and workers are being subjected to 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."
Hasina fled Bangladesh in 2024 after protests ended her two-decade tenure as prime minister. In November, Bangladesh's war crimes tribunal sentenced her to death in absentia over the deadly crackdown on a student-led uprising. She has denied the charges while living in exile in India.
She said she has not informed the Bangladesh government about her plans to return, arguing that "Democracy, voting rights, the political rights of the Awami League and justice are not subjects for secret talks."
Her announcement comes even as Bangladesh reiterated its efforts to secure her extradition from India.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam had recently said the government was continuing diplomatic efforts to bring Hasina back to face trial.
"I do not see any deficiency in our diplomatic efforts. The process is continuing," she told reporters, adding that the repatriation process, initiated under the Muhammad Yunus-led interim administration, is now being pursued by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led government.
