Dhaka: Former Prime Minister of Bangladesh and Chairman of the Banned Awami League Sheikh HasinaShe, who was sentenced to death in her hometown, announced on Friday that she and her party colleagues planned to “voluntarily” return to Dhaka and surrender around December.“They may arrest me upon my return and may even kill me,” Sheikh Hasina told Reuters. “Despite this, I have to leave,” the 78-year-old told the news agency, although sources in Tarique Rahman’s BNP government tried to play down her remarks, saying it was her decision. They say she will face trial whether she is extradited or returns on her own.This is the second time Hasina has announced her intention to return from India, where she fled to escape angry mobs who threatened to kill her during violent protests against the Indian government in 2024.However, Hasina’s return is not a safe proposition.Want Hasina back so she can be executed: NCP MPFriday’s reiteration appeared to signal an assessment that the BNP’s immunity represents a change in stance by the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus, which has made no secret of its hostility toward Hasina and oversaw the death penalty for Hasina after what many considered a sham trial.Her return could also help the BNP government, which has been accused by opponents of making no effort to bring Hasina back, and remove an irritant in relations with New Delhi, which is used by pro-Pakistan elements and Islamists to foment hostility against India.On her plans to return, a former Hasina cabinet member who is also in exile told TOI, “There has been a significant shift in public perception and the growing broad global and local consensus on inclusive politics in Bangladesh is the strength of the Awami League.”“Ultimately, our expectation is that Bangladesh’s political leadership will now accept the political reality that everyone expects inclusive politics. Political exclusion is not conducive to the socio-economic situation as well as law and order,” he said.Government sources referring to her interviews, including one published by New Delhi Television on June 29, said that if Hasina returns, she will have to stand trial in several cases, including those related to crimes against humanity. In one of the cases, she was sentenced to death.However, Hasina’s return is not a safe proposition as NCP MPs are allies of the hardline Jamaat-e-Islami, whose members have led protests against Hasina, vowing to ensure she is hanged. “We saw an interview. Someone said they planned to return in December. Our demand is that the country has been devastated for 16 years. Now we also want that person to return so that the death penalty can be carried out,” said Nahid Islam, chief whip of the opposition in parliament.However, Hasina and her colleagues may be counting on the support that the Awami League continues to enjoy, while also realizing that in the absence of members of the family of the country’s founder, her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the Awami League may disappear. “If death comes, I want it to come on my own land, where my parents are buried and where they bled,” she said.
