Sheikh Hasina Vows Return to Bangladesh in December 2026, Calls for Lifting Ban on Awami League and Release of Political Prisoners

Sunil Negi

Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who has been living in exile in India since last year, made her first public appearance through a video address at the Foreign Correspondents Club of South Asia near Pragati Maidan in New Delhi, expressing her strong desire to return to Bangladesh in December 2026.

Speaking to a packed hall of Indian and foreign correspondents, Hasina said she was forced to leave Dhaka hurriedly in the middle of the night in an Army helicopter and was escorted to a safe location in India by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval due to the rapidly deteriorating security situation. She described the decision to seek refuge in India as necessary to protect her life and the lives of her close aides.

Hasina said the immediate trigger for her departure was the escalation of nationwide protests that began as student demonstrations against government job quotas and snowballed into a broader movement demanding her resignation. The protests turned violent in July and August 2024, with clashes between protestors, police and ruling party activists leaving hundreds dead. The Army was eventually deployed, a curfew was imposed, and internet services were shut down. Facing mounting pressure from the military and street protests, and with key institutions withdrawing support, Hasina left Dhaka on August 5, 2024 and landed in India the same night.

Since then, an interim government has been running Bangladesh under the leadership of Nobel laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus. Hasina’s Awami League has faced a sweeping crackdown. Thousands of party leaders and workers have been arrested, its offices have been sealed in several districts, and the party’s activities have been severely restricted. The interim administration has also filed multiple legal cases against Hasina, including charges of crimes against humanity, corruption, money laundering and abuse of power related to the crackdown on protestors. Hasina termed all these cases “politically motivated” and said they were aimed at erasing her party from Bangladesh’s political landscape.

In her address, Hasina laid out a three-point condition for her return. She called for the restoration of full democratic processes including free and fair elections under a neutral framework, the immediate lifting of restrictions on the Awami League, and the release of all political detainees including senior party leaders. She said the people of Bangladesh deserve the right to choose their government without fear and that democracy cannot survive under what she called “selective justice and revenge politics.”

Hasina said she has been in touch with party workers inside Bangladesh and with the diaspora, and that the Awami League remains the largest political force in the country despite the crackdown. She expressed confidence that once the current restrictions are lifted, her party will be able to contest elections and return to power. She also thanked the government of India for providing her security and shelter during this period, and said India-Bangladesh ties, built over decades, must remain strong irrespective of who is in power in Dhaka.

The timing of her statement is significant as Bangladesh is expected to hold fresh general elections by the end of 2026 under the roadmap announced by the interim government. The announcement has already triggered reactions in Dhaka, with leaders of the interim administration saying that anyone facing criminal charges must face the law, while Awami League leaders abroad welcomed Hasina’s declaration and said they will start preparations for her return.

For now, Hasina continues to operate from New Delhi, addressing party workers virtually and meeting foreign journalists to present her version of events. Whether the conditions she has set will be met by December 2026 remains uncertain, but her public re-emergence signals that Bangladesh’s exiled former Prime Minister intends to re-enter the political arena and contest for the future of her party and the country.