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Exiled ex-PM Hasina vows to return to Bangladesh 'this year' despite death sentence

In a Sunday NDTV interview, Sheikh Hasina said for the first time she will come home in 2026, calling her November 2025 death-in-absentia sentence 'illegal, unconstitutional and politically motivated'; Bangladesh's interim government has repeatedly sought her extradition from India

Leaders·Courts· active Who Decides·What They're Not Saying ·4 takes · ·rbtfl upd Jun 29, 2026
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The split

The same story, as told by newsrooms in different countries. Their words, attributed and linked.

India

NDTV

“I want to say clearly: overcoming every obstacle and every conspiracy, I will return to my country this year.”

Indian broadcaster whose interview prompted the announcement; the outlet to which Hasina gave her first on-the-record return timelineread the original ↗

Pakistan

Dawn

“Bangladesh's fugitive ex-PM Sheikh Hasina says she will return to Dhaka this year.”

Pakistan's leading English-language newspaper; frames the vow through South Asian geopolitical implicationsread the original ↗

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Summary

Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, 78, said in a Sunday NDTV interview that she would return to Bangladesh in 2026, the first time she has publicly committed to a timeline since fleeing to India in August 2024 after a student uprising ended her 15-year rule. A Dhaka special tribunal sentenced Hasina to death by hanging in November 2025 for incitement and failure to prevent killings during the uprising. She described the verdict as "illegal, unconstitutional and politically motivated" and said she was "not afraid of death." Bangladesh's interim government, led by the BNP and Tarique Rahman, has repeatedly asked India to extradite her; India has not complied.

Why it matters

Hasina's public vow raises the prospect of a direct confrontation between her return and Bangladesh's interim authorities. India faces a harder choice if she acts on the declaration: facilitating her return risks inflaming Dhaka, while further sheltering her strains bilateral relations with Bangladesh's new government.

What to watch

  • Whether India permits her departure or begins extradition proceedings.
  • How the Bangladesh interim government responds to the declaration.
  • Whether Hasina's Awami League, currently banned from operating, uses the vow to remobilise.

The briefing, by email