'May Arrest Me Or Kill Me': Sheikh Hasina Plans To Return To Bangladesh In December To Surrender

Sheikh Hasina plans to return to Bangladesh in December, despite facing potential arrest or death. She has been living in exile in India since being ousted in August 2024.

Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said she and other exiled leaders of the Awami League plan to return to the country around December, despite the risk of arrest or even death upon arrival.

The 78-year-old, who is living in exile in India after being ousted from power in August 2024 following a student-led uprising, said she intends to voluntarily surrender before the courts and face the legal proceedings against her. According to Reuters, Hasina said there had been no communication with authorities in Dhaka regarding her proposed return.

“They may arrest me on my return, they may even kill me. Still, I have to go,” Hasina was quoted as saying. She added that members of her Awami League were facing severe repression and that she wanted to die in her homeland if that was her fate.

“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,” she said.

Hasina’s remarks come months after Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal sentenced her to death after convicting her of crimes against humanity over the government’s crackdown on the 2024 student-led protests that eventually led to the collapse of her Awami League government.

The tribunal also held her responsible for ordering, or failing to prevent, the killings of protesters. Hasina has denied the charges from exile.

The tribunal also awarded the death penalty to former Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and sentenced former Inspector General of Police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun to five years in prison. It further ordered the confiscation of properties belonging to Hasina and Kamal.

Claiming that Bangladeshi authorities had repeatedly sought her extradition, Hasina said she would return to her country herself. “They want to take me back. They are repeatedly sending letters to India seeking to have me sent back. I will go myself,” she said.

However, India’s Ministry of External Affairs has not commented on the matter. Earlier this year, the ministry said it was examining Bangladesh’s extradition request while reiterating its intention to engage constructively with the new government in Dhaka and strengthen bilateral relations.

(With agency inputs)