'Would love to go home if...': Ousted Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina confirms she is in Delhi

Ousted Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday (Oct 29) confirmed in a rare interview that she is in New Delhi but she would return to her country when a ‘legitimate’ government will be formed. This is the first time in over an year that the Bangladeshi leader has confirmed her whereabouts. Speaking to Reuters, she also said that millions of supporters of Bangladesh’s Awami League will boycott next year’s national election, after the party was barred from contesting the polls. The Indian government has not commented on her interview yet. Muhammad Yunus' interim government announced that elections in Bangladesh will be held in February.

Asked about her return to Dhaka, Hasina, whose father and three brothers were killed in a 1975 military coup, said she lives “freely in Delhi” but “would love to go home” if “law and order genuinely prevailed.” “It’s really not about me or my family. For Bangladesh to achieve the future we all want, there must be a return to constitutional rule and political stability. No single person or family defines our country’s future," Hasina said. “I would of course love to go home, so long as the government there was legitimate, the constitution was being upheld, and law and order genuinely prevailed,” she added.

In emailed responses to Reuters, Hasina slammed the interim government for banning the electoral participation of Awami League and called it “self-defeating.” “The next government must have electoral legitimacy. Millions of people support the Awami League, so as things stand, they will not vote. We are not asking Awami League voters to support other parties. We still hope common sense will prevail and we will be allowed to contest the election ourselves," Hasina said.

According to Reuters, the International Crimes Tribunal, Bangladesh's domestic war crimes court, has concluded proceedings against Hasina, who faces charges of crimes against humanity over the violent crackdown on student protests in mid-2024. A verdict is expected on November 13. Hasina denied the charges, saying she was not personally involved in the use of lethal force or other alleged crimes. “These proceedings are a politically motivated charade,” she said.