Former Bangladesh Prime Minister , who fled the country in August 2024 and has been in India since, said at a virtual conference on Monday that she is ready to return to her country despite the grave risks involved.
She said she had been targeted in her country in the past but remained undeterred, India Today reported. She continued, “Now I have decided…Yes, I know. If I go back, the moment I land, they can kill me, or they can arrest me and torture me.”
The ousted Bangladesh PM made the remarks while virtually attending an event hosted by the Center for US-Bangladesh Relations in Washington, DC. Asked when she would return, Hasina told India Today, “I will go back to Bangladesh in December,” and added, “it’s my responsibility to go.”
Her remarks come months after she first announced her intention to return to on her own by December. However, she did not specify an exact date at Monday’s event.
At her first virtual press conference held in on the second anniversary of her ouster, she similarly made the case for her return, saying, “Whatever fate awaits me, I will return to my people. I cannot stay away while my beloved countrymen are suffering.”
She acknowledged that she could be detained or imprisoned upon returning, having been sentenced to death by a Bangladeshi court, but noted that “fear cannot decide my duty to the people.”
Hasina said returning home and securing the ’s involvement in democratic politics were “not about power”, but about bringing back development, secularism and stability.
In separate interviews with Reuters and AFP in July, she acknowledged the risks of returning to Bangladesh. She said she and senior Awami League members planned to return in December and surrender before the courts. She told Reuters, “They may arrest me on my return; they may even kill me,” and added, “Still, I have to go. 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, who fled Bangladesh after student-led protests brought down her Awami League government, has been living in self-exile in . Addressing the US-based press conference, she thanked the Indian government for sheltering her.
She said, “I was not prepared to leave my country, but somehow I reached here. I thank the Indian government and the people here.” Hasina further alleged that while more than 600 cases had been filed against her, the interim government in Dhaka had granted immunity to those actually responsible for the crimes.
Hasina was convicted of and sentenced to death in her absence by Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal in November 2025. The case concerned the crackdown on student-led protests in 2024. She denies the charges and maintains that the proceedings were politically motivated.
Both the former interim administration led by and the Rahman government have asked India to extradite her. New Delhi has said it is reviewing the request through its judicial and internal legal procedures.
