By Sohaib Shams
Former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has told The Associated Press she remains committed to returning to Bangladesh from exile in India next month, despite a death sentence handed down by a special tribunal for her government’s deadly crackdown on protesters in 2024.
Ousted in mass uprising
Hasina fled to India after student-led protests forced her from power in 2024, ending her 15-year rule. In 2025, a Bangladeshi tribunal sentenced her to death for crimes against humanity, ruling she ordered the crackdown that left hundreds dead. The United Nations estimates nearly 1,400 people were killed. Hasina denies wrongdoing and rejects the tribunal’s legitimacy. Bangladesh has repeatedly sought her extradition, but India has declined.
Defiant return pledge
“If death is my destiny, I would rather die on the soil of my own country, among my own people,” Hasina wrote in an email response to AP questions submitted last week. “So, I will return to Bangladesh. That decision has not changed.” She acknowledged she could face arrest, imprisonment, torture, or death upon arrival, but said she cannot spend her life watching her people suffer from a distance.
Political landscape shifted
Since Hasina’s ouster, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus led an interim administration for 18 months. In February, Tarique Rahman, son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and a longtime Hasina rival, won a landslide election under Yunus’s oversight. Hasina’s Awami League party was barred from contesting.
Crackdown on Awami League
Hasina alleged that at least 20 party members have been killed since August 2024, with thousands arrested, tortured, or forced into hiding. She said supporters have lost homes, businesses, and livelihoods due to political affiliation. “There is no normal political or democratic environment,” she said, accusing authorities of systematic suppression. Rights groups including Human Rights Watch have criticized Rahman’s government for assaults on civil and political rights, though the government says arrests involve specific charges.
Concerns over extremism
Hasina, who took a hard line against radical groups during her tenure, warned that the current political environment has emboldened extremist elements. Minority groups have reported intimidation, which the Yunus-led government denied. The prime minister’s press wing did not respond to an AP request for comment.
