Sheikh Hasina reveals when she will return to Bangladesh, slams ‘desperate’ Yunus' extradition demand

As invigorated protests and force rocked bangla desh after the demise of educatee leader Sharif Osman Hadi, former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina slammed the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government over “lawlessness” and said that he has “no mandate” to alter the country’s foreign policy.

She also turned down the Yunus government’s demand for her return to face what she called “political assassination”, after the country’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) delivered the death penalty for her in connection with the “July Uprising” that saw student-led protests leading to the toppling of Hasina’s government.

The student-led protests in July 2024 led to the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina-led government, following which she flew to India. She has since been living in self-exile at a secret safe house in Delhi, where India continues to provide her full security, her son Sajeeb Wazed said earlier.

In November this year, a Bangladesh court found the former prime minister guilty of “crimes against humanity” in relation to the “July Uprising” protests and convicted Hasina on all five charges. She was handed the death penalty after the court said that she had allowed atrocities against student protesters.

Dismissing extradition requests as coming from “an increasingly desperate and adrift Yunus administration”, Sheikh Hasina said in an interview with news agency ANI that she would return only when Bangladesh has a “legitimate government” and an “independent judiciary”.

“When Bangladesh has a legitimate government and an independent judiciary, I will gladly return to the country I have served all my life,” she said.

Speaking on her “escape” to India amid the student-led uprising, Hasina said, “I left Bangladesh to prevent further bloodshed, not out of fear of facing justice. You cannot demand my return to face my political assassination. I have challenged Yunus to take his charges to The Hague precisely because I am confident an independent court would acquit me.”

“These growing demands you refer to come only from an increasingly desperate and adrift Yunus administration. Everybody else appears to see the ICT process for what it was, namely a politically motivated kangaroo tribunal,” she said on the extradition requests.

The former Bangladesh prime minister said that Hadi’s killing was a reflection of “lawlessness” that has “multiplied under Yunus”.

“Violence has become the norm while the interim government either denies it or is powerless to stop it. Such incidents destabilise Bangladesh internally but also our relationships with neighbours who are watching with justified alarm,” she said.

She added, “Yunus has placed extremists in cabinet positions, released convicted terrorists from prison, and allowed groups linked to international terrorist organisations to take roles in public life. He is not a politician and has no experience governing a complex nation. My fear is that radicals are using him to project an acceptable face to the international community while they systematically radicalise our institutions from within.”

Speaking on the present India-Bangladesh ties, Hasina said that the Yunus government issues “hostile statements against India”. This comes after a Hindu man was reportedly lynched to death in Bangladesh’s Mymensingh recently, following the death of Hadi.

Hasina told ANI, “The strain you are witnessing is entirely of Yunus’s making. His government issues hostile statements against India, fails to protect religious minorities, and allows extremists to dictate foreign policy, then expresses surprise when tensions rise.”

“India has been Bangladesh’s most steadfast friend and partner for decades. The ties between our nations are deep and fundamental. They will outlast any temporary government. I am confident that once legitimate governance is restored, Bangladesh will return to the sensible partnership we cultivated over fifteen years,” she added.

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