Sheikh Hasina, the former prime minister of Bangladesh who fled to India in August 2024, has announced that she and senior members of her Awami League party intend to return to Dhaka around December and surrender to the courts. In a telephone interview with Reuters, the 78-year-old leader acknowledged the risk of arrest or even death but stated, “If death comes, I want it to come on my own soil, where my parents are buried.” The declaration marks the first time Hasina has set a public timetable for her return since an International Crimes Tribunal sentenced her to death in absentia in November 2025 for crimes against humanity linked to the crackdown on student-led protests.

Viewed from Dhaka, the announcement has been met with both legal and political pushback. The government, now led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, has repeatedly sent letters to New Delhi requesting Hasina’s extradition. A government information notice on Friday reminded all media that a court order prohibits broadcasting statements by the convicted fugitive. Nahid Islam, chief whip of the opposition National Citizen Party, told a business event that Hasina would return only “for the death sentence to be carried out” and urged the government to use diplomatic and legal channels to bring her back. His remarks reflect a broader position among the post-uprising political class that the former prime minister’s return should be managed as a law-enforcement matter, not a voluntary political act.

In New Delhi, the Ministry of External Affairs has said it is examining Bangladesh’s extradition request as part of ongoing judicial and internal legal processes, while emphasising a desire to engage constructively with the government in Dhaka. Hasina’s prolonged presence in India has been a persistent irritant in bilateral ties, and her voluntary departure could, according to South Asian diplomatic analysts, remove a major obstacle to normalisation. Hasina told Reuters she had not consulted any foreign government about her plans and that she intends to surrender alongside other exiled leaders, including former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, who also faces a death sentence.

Within the Awami League, however, the December timeline is viewed with scepticism. Party insiders quoted in Bangladeshi media suggest the announcement may be a symbolic move to galvanise a banned and scattered organisation rather than a concrete operational plan. Since the party was outlawed in May 2025 under anti-terrorism legislation, its political activity has been largely confined to online platforms, and no senior exiled figure has yet heeded earlier calls to return. The government’s reminder to media outlets to respect the court ban on broadcasting Hasina’s statements signals that authorities intend to limit her ability to communicate with supporters. No date for the return has been set, and no contact with Dhaka has been established, leaving the dossier in a state of high political charge but low operational clarity.