Ousted Bangladeshi leader says she will return from exile despite death sentence
NEW DELHI — Ousted former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said Wednesday that she plans to return to her country from exile in India in December despite facing a death sentence in Bangladesh over a bloody crackdown on protesters in 2024.
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In an audio address at an event in New Delhi marking the second anniversary of the uprising that toppled her government, Hasina said it was her duty to her people to return voluntarily despite her conviction in absentia on charges of crimes against humanity.
In a sharp reaction after Hasina’s address, Bangladesh said it was “outraged” by her open engagement with the media in New Delhi, where “she and her henchmen launched venomous vitriol against the State of Bangladesh and her people.”
The country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement late Wednesday that the event was detrimental to ties between Bangladesh and India and questioned its timing.
“On a day when the people of Bangladesh are observing the second anniversary of the July Revolution, this interaction by Sheikh Hasina on Indian soil stands as an affront to the sovereignty of Bangladesh and a grievous insult to the martyrs of the July Revolution,” the statement said.
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Hasina fled to India in 2024 after student-led protests forced her from power, and she has remained in exile there ever since.
In 2025, a Bangladeshi court sentenced her to death on charges of crimes against humanity for ordering a crackdown on the uprising. The United Nations said in a report that nearly 1,400 people were killed in the crackdown. Hasina denies any wrongdoing.
Bangladesh has repeatedly sought Hasina’s extradition, but India has so far declined to hand her over.
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“I know that they may put me in jail, or they may kill me, or anything may happen, but still I have to go back,” Hasina said during her address. “Fear cannot decide my duty to the people.”
She also called for the ban on her Awami League party to be lifted and for political prisoners to be released.
Also on Wednesday, Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman inaugurated a memorial museum dedicated to the 2024 uprising. The July Mass Uprising Memorial Museum is housed in Hasina’s former official residence in the capital, Dhaka.
The project was launched by the interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, who took office on Aug. 8, 2024, three days after Hasina’s ouster. Yunus joined Rahman at the museum’s inauguration.
The museum features audio and video exhibits on the uprising, as well as personal belongings of those killed and newspaper clippings from the time. It also documents alleged political repression during Hasina’s 15 years in power.
Rahman, the son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and Hasina’s archrival, came to power with a landslide victory in February under a vote overseen by Yunus’ interim administration. Hasina’s Awami League was barred from participating.
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