Bangladesh's ousted leader Hasina says she will return home in December

• Dhaka protests India allowing Hasina to interact with media, warns relations will be affected

Bangladesh's ousted leader Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday vowed to return home this December for the first time since her dramatic overthrow two years ago.

“I want to return to my people. I may be detained, may be in jail. But I will return to do my duty to the people,” she told her first audio news conference from the Indian capital, adding that she is not worried about the consequences.

Hasina, who fled India on Aug. 5, 2024 after a mass uprising toppled her 15-year regime and was sentenced to death last fall, did the event along with her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy and other leaders who fled India as organized by the Foreign Correspondents' Club (FCC) of South Asia in New Delhi.

About 1,400 people were killed and thousands injured in the uprising at the hands of Hasina's security forces and her Awami League loyalists, according to the UN

On the question of regret for the killings during the uprising, Joy said on his mother’s behalf, “There is no question of regret until justice is made for the persecution of Awami League activists (and) police,” referring to her party.

Dhaka protests India giving Hasina a microphone

Bangladesh was outraged that India allowed Hasina to engage in live interaction with the media in New Delhi in spite of concerns conveyed earlier, Bangladesh’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“Bangladesh will never be a client state. Convicted mass murderer Hasina and her mafia enterprise will never have a place in the polity of Bangladesh,” it added.

Last November, Hasina was sentenced to death by a Dhaka-based International Crimes Tribunal for crimes against humanity and a brutal crackdown during the monsoon uprising.
Bangladesh’s repeated requests to India for Hasina’s return under their extradition treaty have not yet seen a response.

“On the contrary, allowing her the opportunity to openly interact with the media under any pretext is deeply hurtful to our people’s sentiment and detrimental to the development of harmonious bilateral relations between Bangladesh and India,” it warned.

Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Tuesday, however, claimed that his government had no connection to the virtual media event.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh on Wednesday observed the national holiday marking the second anniversary of the uprising.