Ousted Bangladeshi leader vows to return from exile despite facing a death sentence : NPR

Sheikh Hasina, the ousted leader of Bangladesh, announced her intention to return to her homeland, despite facing a death sentence issued by a court during her two-year exile.

In her first public statement since seeking refuge in India following a harsh crackdown on a youth-led uprising in 2024, Hasina declared, “Whatever fate awaits me, I will return to my people.”

Hasina further stated, “I may be detained, I may be sent to prison, they may try to enforce verdicts issued in fabricated cases, but fear cannot decide my duty to the people.”

Speaking via audio at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of South Asia in New Delhi on Wednesday, the 78-year-old, who has served five terms as Bangladesh’s prime minister, was joined by her son, Sajeeb Wazed, who participated via video link from Washington, D.C.

Hasina’s address marked the second anniversary of her ousting. She fled Bangladesh by helicopter after weeks of protests in 2024, which resulted in nearly 1,400 deaths, according to the United Nations.

Hasina denies any wrongdoing during that period.

Hasina blames uprising on ‘coordinated assault’

Students shout slogans during a protest demanding the trial of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024.

Rajib Dhar/AP

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Students shout slogans during a protest demanding the trial of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024.

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Rajib Dhar/AP

On Wednesday, Hasina attributed the violence to the protesters, stating, “From the beginning, my government tried to resolve the issue peacefully, but it became a coordinated assault on the constitutional order, driven by hidden instruction, organized violence and propaganda.”

However, analysts have challenged this view. Ali Riaz, a political science professor at Illinois State University, described the uprising as a reaction to Hasina’s long-standing authoritarian governance.

“The U.N. report proved that state machinery was used against civilians. Killing 1,400 people in less than three weeks demonstrates the ferocity of the actions taken by her government and under her direct instruction,” Riaz commented. “Her narration of history is simply ignoring the facts of what happened on the ground.”

Following Hasina’s departure, her political party, the Awami League, was banned. In 2025, a tribunal in Dhaka sentenced her to death in absentia for alleged crimes against humanity during the crackdown on protesters, a verdict Hasina has dismissed as legally void.