"Fear cannot decide my duty": Sheikh Hasina vows to return to Bangladesh in December

NEW DELHI: Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said she plans to return to Bangladesh in December despite the risk of arrest or death, while alleging that the student-led movement that toppled her government last year was part of a broader conspiracy.

Hasina made the remarks during an online address to a media programme in New Delhi, marking her first public media appearance since taking refuge in India following her ouster in August 2024.

She said fear would not prevent her from carrying out what she described as her responsibility to the people of Bangladesh. According to Hasina, her return is not aimed at reclaiming power but at restoring the country to the path of development and secularism, even though she expects to face imprisonment or death.

Hasina said she had been forced to leave Bangladesh despite dedicating her life to the country, but insisted she had never become detached from its people. She added that the Bangladesh of today was not the nation she had envisioned or the country for which millions sacrificed their lives during the 1971 Liberation War.

Speaking as the daughter of Bangladesh's founding leader, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, rather than as a former prime minister, Hasina claimed the protests that unfolded in July and August 2024 were not a peaceful student movement. She alleged that organised groups manipulated students for political purposes and that the demonstrations, despite appearing leaderless, were orchestrated with the objective of seizing power outside the electoral process.

Her son, Sajeeb Wazed, also addressed the programme and alleged that Bangladesh had become "another Pakistan."

Hasina's comments come as she continues to face legal proceedings in Bangladesh following her removal from office. During the address, she also called for the ban on her Awami League party to be lifted and urged the release of party leaders and activists detained after the change in government.