I am free and safe in India, I will not return to Bangladesh: Sheikh Hasina

New Delhi, October 30: Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India to save her life from the jihadist movement, has said that she is living freely and safely in India and that she will not return to Bangladesh. In an interview with Reuters, Sheikh Hasina said that she is living freely but safely in Delhi and has no intention of leaving India.

Regarding the national elections to be held in Bangladesh next year, the future of the Awami League party, the allegations of crimes against humanity against her and her plans to return to her country, Sheikh Hasina said, “If the government there is legitimate, upholds the constitution and law and order truly prevails, then I am interested in going to Bangladesh.” Similarly, Sheikh Hasina said that the ban on the Awami League is not only unfair but also a cause of self-defeat. “If her Awami League party is not allowed to contest the 2026 elections, then millions of its supporters will boycott the elections in Bangladesh. Millions of people support the Awami League, so if that happens, they will not vote. Sheikh Hasina warned, “If you want an effective political system, you cannot take away the voting rights of millions of people.”

Sheikh Hasina, 78, fled Dhaka to Delhi in August last year after a student uprising against the civil service quota system sparked a coup by Islamist jihadists. She is currently taking refuge in Delhi. Since Sheikh Hasina’s ouster, an interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus has been ruling Bangladesh.

The current government has accused Sheikh Hasina, her government and several leaders of her party of murder. The trial in this case has concluded at the International Crimes Tribunal-1 in Dhaka, where the government lawyer has appealed for the death penalty for Sheikh Hasina.

Nearly 1,400 people were killed in Bangladesh in July and August last year when student protests against reservation in jobs turned into a movement against Sheikh Hasina’s rule. Although Hasina’s government later withdrew the quotas, the Islamist extremists aimed to overthrow her. They fled to India in a military helicopter shortly before the attack on Hasina’s residence.

This is the first time Sheikh Hasina has spoken to the media since fleeing Bangladesh, although she regularly posts messages on social media. Meanwhile, the Yunus government has announced that national elections will be held in February 2027. But the current caretaker government in Bangladesh has banned Hasina’s party, the Awami League, from contesting elections. However, Hasina has said, “The Awami League will play a role in Bangladesh’s future, whether in government or opposition, and it is not necessary for the party’s leadership to come from her family.”