Deposed former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday announced that she intends to return to Bangladesh in December, asserting that the country needs her amid what she described as a period of political violence, economic decline and growing instability under the current BNP-led government.
Speaking virtually at an event organised by the Foreign Correspondents' Club of South Asia in New Delhi to mark two years since the student-led movement that led to the fall of her government, Hasina said she was determined to return despite the legal challenges awaiting her.
"I have a plan to return in December. You all will know about the time of my return to Bangladesh. I want to return to put my country on the right track. I want to return because the people of Bangladesh deserve security. I want to stand beside the people of my country and help improve their lives," she said.
Referring to the violent protests of 2024 that resulted in her removal from office, Hasina rejected the characterisation of the agitation as a spontaneous student movement. She alleged that the protests were part of a carefully planned conspiracy aimed at toppling her government.
"It was not a quota reform movement. Some groups used the youth as their political instrument. The violent movement was meticulously designed by a mastermind," she said, adding that her government had abolished the quota system and initiated dialogue with protest leaders before the demands shifted to her resignation.
Hasina, who left Bangladesh on August 5, 2024, after widespread unrest, alleged that more than 10,000 people had been killed or had disappeared since her departure. She claimed that Awami League workers and supporters, along with journalists, judges, women and ordinary citizens, had faced persecution under the present administration.
She further alleged that Bangladesh's economy had deteriorated significantly, claiming industrial production had contracted, poverty had increased, investment had weakened and the government was relying on substantial monthly borrowing from the Bangladesh Bank to meet its expenditure.
The former prime minister also claimed that her government had constituted a judicial inquiry commission on July 18, 2024, to investigate deaths during the student protests, but alleged that the subsequent administration did not allow the inquiry to proceed after assuming power.
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Despite facing legal proceedings in Bangladesh, Hasina reiterated her resolve to return to the country.
"They can send me to jail, they can kill me... anything can happen, but I have to return," she said.
After Hasina's ouster, the interim administration banned the Awami League through an executive order under anti-terror legislation.
In November 2025, Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal sentenced Hasina to death in absentia after convicting her of crimes against humanity in connection with the 2024 crackdown. Bangladeshi authorities have stated that she would be taken into custody immediately upon returning to the country.
Addressing the same event, Hasina's son, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, accused the present government of turning Bangladesh into a "failed state" and alleged that extremist organisations were operating openly in the country with official patronage. He urged the Indian media to highlight developments in Bangladesh before the international community.
Former Bangladesh Education Minister Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury Nowfel, former Bangladesh cricket captain Shakib Al Hasan, and several other former Awami League leaders also participated virtually in the programme.
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