<a href="https://www.mid-day.com/news/world-news/article/bangladesh-heads-to-polls-18-months-after-sheikh-hasinas-ouster-23616228" target="_blank" rel="none noopener">Former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina</a> on Wednesday declared that she is determined to return home in December, pledging to face the risk of arrest or a death sentence, in order to "restore democracy and justice" to the country.
Hasina said this at a virtual press conference in her first public media interaction since fleeing to India on August 5, 2024.
"My return is not about power, it''s about putting Bangladesh back on track of development, secularism and prosperity," she said.
"I know, they may put me in jail or kill me," she said, adding, "I will go back home to be with my people."
Hasina, 78, has been living in India since fleeing Dhaka.
"I have decided to go and I will go to Bangladesh," she asserted.
Last November, Hasina was sentenced to death in absentia by a special tribunal in Dhaka for alleged "crimes against humanity" over her <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/news/world-news/article/former-bangladesh-pm-sheikh-hasina-sentenced-to-10-years-in-jail-23614908" target="_blank" rel="none noopener">government''s brutal crackdown on student-led protests</a> in 2024.
Since that verdict, Dhaka has been urging New Delhi to extradite her to face the law.
The former Bangladesh prime minister also hailed India for always standing by Bangladesh.
"India has always been a great friend of Bangladesh," she said.
Hasina said the situation in Bangladesh is very disturbing.
"Fear has entered homes, work places and educational campuses; this is not the Bangladesh we built. I call upon the international community to stand with the people of Bangladesh in their struggle for democracy and justice."
Hasina alleged that the <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/news/world-news/article/bangladesh-s-former-pm-sheikh-hasina-sentenced-5-years-imprisonment-on-corruption-charges-23605730" target="_blank" rel="none noopener">protests in Bangladesh</a> in July and August 2024 that resulted in the collapse of her government were not a peaceful student movement.
She alleged that organised groups worked to turn the movement into a violent political instrument.
"I was forced away from my country but I am never separated from my people," she said.
Hasina''s son Sajeeb Wazed Joy claimed that political killings have been legalised in Bangladesh since August 2024. Bangladesh today is a failed state, there is no law and order in the country, he said.
What should concern New Delhi most is that <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/news/world-news/article/bangladesh-govt-tells-media-to-block-sheikh-hasinas-statements-23603877" target="_blank" rel="none noopener">Bangladesh has become another Pakistan</a> on India's eastern border, he alleged.
This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever

Sheikh Hasina to return to Bangladesh: Former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday declared that she is determined to return home in December

Sheikh Hasina to return to Bangladesh: I am determined to go back to Bangladesh, says Former PM Sheikh Hasina

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Last November, Hasina was sentenced to death in absentia by a special tribunal in Dhaka for alleged "crimes against humanity" over her government''s brutal crackdown on student-led protests in 2024

I am determined to go back to Bangladesh: Former PM Sheikh Hasina

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