Ousted Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Hasina said she will return to Bangladesh despite a death sentence handed down in absentia while she has been living in exile. In her first public remarks since fleeing to India after a violent youth-led uprising in 2024, Hasina delivered an audio address at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of South Asia in New Delhi, saying: “Whatever fate awaits me, I will return to my people.” Her son, Sajeeb Wazed, joined the event by video from Washington, D.C.
The 78-year-old, who served five terms as prime minister, fled the country by helicopter amid weeks of protests that the United Nations says left nearly 1,400 people dead. Hasina has denied wrongdoing during that period and called the charges against her fabricated. “I may be detained, I may be sent to prison, they may try to enforce verdicts issued in fabricated cases, but fear cannot decide my duty to the people,” she said.
Hasina blamed the unrest on the protesters, describing the events as “a coordinated assault on the constitutional order, driven by hidden instruction, organized violence and propaganda,” and said her government had tried to resolve issues peacefully. Analysts and critics reject that account. Ali Riaz, a professor of political science at Illinois State University, told reporters the uprising was a response to Hasina’s “decades-long draconian rule” and pointed to a U.N. finding that state forces were used against civilians. “Killing 1,400 people in less than three weeks demonstrates the ferocity of the actions taken by her government and under her direct instruction,” Riaz said.
After Hasina’s departure, her Awami League party was banned. In 2025 a Dhaka tribunal convicted her in absentia on charges including crimes against humanity related to the crackdown and sentenced her to death; Hasina has dismissed the verdict as legally void. She announced on Wednesday that she plans to return to Bangladesh in December. Riaz said any return would trigger immediate legal action, adding that her conviction stands and that authorities would have to detain her.
The New Delhi event has further strained ties between India and Bangladesh. India’s Ministry of External Affairs said it had no role in organizing the press conference, while Bangladesh’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying Dhaka “deeply regrets” that the event took place in India despite its objections. India has said it seeks to restore relations with Dhaka, but Hasina’s exile and public appeals have become a point of diplomatic friction between the neighboring countries.