New Delhi: Former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday declared that she is determined to return home in December, pledging to face the risk of arrest or a death sentence, in order to "restore democracy and justice" to the country.
Hasina said this at a virtual press conference in her first public media interaction since fleeing to India on 5 August 2024.
"My return is not about power, it's about putting Bangladesh back on track of development, secularism and prosperity," she said.
"I know, they may put me in jail or kill me," she said, adding, "I will go back home to be with my people."
Hasina, 78, has been living in India since fleeing Dhaka.
"I have decided to go and I will go to Bangladesh," she asserted.
Last November, Hasina was sentenced to death in absentia by a special tribunal in Dhaka for alleged "crimes against humanity" over her government's brutal crackdown on student-led protests in 2024.
Since that verdict, Dhaka has been urging New Delhi to extradite her to face the law.
The former Bangladesh prime minister also hailed India for always standing by Bangladesh.
"India has always been a great friend of Bangladesh," she said.
Hasina said the situation in Bangladesh is very disturbing.
"Fear has entered homes, work places and educational campuses; this is not the Bangladesh we built. I call upon the international community to stand with the people of Bangladesh in their struggle for democracy and justice."
Hasina alleged that the protests in Bangladesh in July and August 2024 that resulted in the collapse of her government were not a peaceful student movement.
She alleged that organised groups worked to turn the movement into a violent political instrument.
"I was forced away from my country but I am never separated from my people," she said.
Hasina's son Sajeeb Wazed Joy claimed that political killings have been legalised in Bangladesh since August 2024.
Bangladesh today is a failed state, there is no law and order in the country, he said.
What should concern New Delhi most is that Bangladesh has become another Pakistan on India's eastern border, he alleged.
The fall of Hasina's regime
Following widespread protests against her government over a controversial quota system in jobs, Hasina fled to India on 5 August 2024, an event that reshaped the country's political landscape. Three days later, Muhammad Yunus took over as the chief adviser of the Interim government.
According to a February 2025 UN rights office report, up to 1,400 people were killed between July 15 and August 15 last year, the period dubbed as the ‘July Uprising,’ as Hasina’s government ordered a security crackdown on protesters.
On 17 November 2025, the International Crime Tribunal, Bangladesh (ICT-BD) sentenced to death Hasina and home minister of her cabinet Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal after trial in absentia conserving their superior responsibility in committing crimes by their attempt to tame the protestors.
In a related development, Bangladesh has also tightened a nationwide security vigil fearing violence as Hasina makes a virtual public address in New Delhi.
