NEW DELHI: Bangladesh’s fugitive ex-prime minister Sheikh Hasina said on Wednesday she would return to her country in December even if it meant imprisonment, insisting “fear cannot decide” her “duty to the people”.

“I may be detained, I may be sent to prison. But fear cannot decide my duty to the people,” Hasina, 78, said in an audio broadcast to a packed press club in New Delhi.

“I cannot stay away while my beloved countrymen are suffering,” added Hasina, who is in hiding in India. She was speaking on the second anniversary since her iron-fisted rule was overthrown on August 5, 2024 by a student-led uprising.

Hasina fled by helicopter to India as crowds stormed her palace. The United Nations says up to 1,400 people were killed in crackdowns as she tried to cling to power.

In November 2025, a court in Dhaka found Hasina guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced her to be hanged. Dhaka has formally requested Hasina’s extradition, which New Delhi has said was “under examination”.

Hasina said she wanted to return in December as it marks the month Bangladesh gained independence in 1971. But her comments on Wednesday elicited anger in Dhaka where protesters burnt her effigy.

Her remarks echoed comments in an interview in July in which she said she wanted to return to Bangladesh by the year’s end. “I may be killed. I may be arrested. I may be sent to prison,” Hasina wrote, in an email sent from hiding. “I am fully aware of my fate. Still, I want to go back because my people are calling me.”

The Bangladeshi government has said it will ensure Hasina receives due legal process in all cases against her should she return. Rights groups have long accused Hasina’s former administration of abuses including the murder of rivals, suppression of opposition parties, rigged courts and one-sided elections. Tens of thousands of people watched the address broadcast online.

Bangladeshi authorities have banned local media from airing her speech.

Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2026