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New Delhi. Former Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina has clearly said for the first time that she will return to her country this year. This statement comes at a time when he has been sentenced to death in absentia in a case to the violence during the 2024 student movement. Hasina, who is living in India, said in an interview to a media group that she will return to Bangladesh after overcoming every obstacle and every conspiracy.

In such a situation, the question arises whether it will be easy for Sheikh Hasina to return to Bangladesh? What allegations have been made against Hasina? What does Haseena have to say about her return? What is the Bangladesh government doing amid the news of withdrawal? How is Sheikh Hasina in touch with her party? What is the current status of the party in Bangladesh? How many times has Sheikh Hasina faced a similar crisis before?

What allegations have been made against Hasina?

In November last year, a Dhaka court had sentenced Sheikh Hasina to death after finding her guilty of inciting the killing of people, ordering the killings and failing to stop atrocities during the 2024 movement. According to a report released in February by the UN Human Rights Office, up to 1,400 people died during three weeks of protests against Sheikh Hasina’s government. After this incident, many serious allegations including murder were made against Sheikh Hasina and many senior leaders of her party, on the basis of which legal action was initiated against them.

Hasina completely rejected this decision. He alleges that the judiciary of Bangladesh is being used to eliminate the leaders of his party Awami League from politics. She says that she is not afraid of death and earlier too, attempts to end her party have failed and will happen this time too.

What does Haseena have to say about her return?

According to a report, Hasina says that her return is not just to return to power. According to him, their aim is to re-establish democracy, rule of law, political rights of the people and the spirit of the 1971 liberation war in Bangladesh. He said that despite the ban on Awami League, the party has not ended. According to him, Awami League is not a paper organisation, but a political force linked to the soil, history, people and national identity of Bengal. They demanded Prime Minister Tariq Rahman’s government to lift the ban on the party, withdraw alleged false cases filed against leaders, release political prisoners and allow peaceful political activities. The government says that this entire legal process is part of fixing accountability for alleged crimes.

What is the atmosphere in Bangladesh amid the news of Hasina’s return?

Before the foundation day of Awami League, Bangladesh government had tightened security arrangements. On June 22, the government had ordered to deploy the army in five other districts including Dhaka till June 30. This decision was taken when just a week ago the Army was removed from the ongoing duty of almost two years across the country. The government said that they fear that Awami League supporters may try to hold rallies and demonstrations despite the ban. Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed had said that the army has been deployed on the basis of intelligence information so that any kind of sabotage can be stopped and law and order can be maintained.

However, Awami League tried to show strength on its 77th Foundation Day, after which a situation of tension was created in many parts of the country. Dhaka Police had said that 26 activists have been arrested from the capital alone, while many people from other parts of the country have also been detained. On the eve of Foundation Day, Sheikh Hasina, who is living in India, had issued a message on social media saying that we were not born to lose. The party also claimed that it will return with 10 times more strength than before.

How is Sheikh Hasina in touch with her party?

According to a report, Sheikh Hasina is currently living in a safe and secret place in Delhi. The report said that she holds meetings with her party leaders and workers for several hours every day and is in constant touch with the leaders present in Bangladesh. Former MPs and former ministers come to Delhi to meet him to formulate strategies. Saddam Hussain, president of Bangladesh Chhatra League, the Awami League’s student wing, claimed that Hasina was busy in meetings and phone calls for 15 to 16 hours a day and was preparing for the upcoming political conflict. He says that the party is confident that Sheikh Hasina will one day return to Bangladesh as a hero.

The interim government had described the elections held in February as the first free and fair elections in more than a decade, but the Awami League says that if it is prevented from contesting the elections, the democratic legitimacy of the elections itself comes into question. Former party minister Jahangir Kabir Nanak said that he has appealed to his workers to boycott election campaigning and voting and not take part in the entire election process.

However, questions are also being raised regarding this new political strategy of Sheikh Hasina and her party. According to the report, Awami League is now talking about democracy, human rights, transparency and freedom of the press, but its opponents say that while in power, the party has been accused of autocratic rule, corruption and election rigging for years. For this reason, critics view the current pro-democracy stance of the Awami League with suspicion.

What is the status of Awami League in Bangladesh?

After the student movement of July 2024, Sheikh Hasina’s government fell on 5 August 2024 and she had to leave the country and come to India. After this, the interim government of Mohammad Yunus decided on 10 May 2025 that until the judicial process going on against the Awami League and its leaders in the International Criminal Tribunal is completed, all political activities of the party will be banned. The very next day, on May 11, 2025, the government made this ban legal by amending the Anti-Terrorism Act. The political activities of the party were suspended and the Election Commission has also canceled its registration.

However, questions were raised on this decision at the international level also. Five US lawmakers had written a letter to Mohammad Yunus saying that banning an entire political party could deprive a large number of voters of political representation. He described freedom of association and individual criminal responsibility as fundamental principles of human rights, along with free and fair elections. Despite this, the interim government of Bangladesh stuck to its decision.

After this, elections were held in Bangladesh on 12 February. The ban on Awami League was continued even during the elected Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) government. Parliament approved the Prevention of Terrorism (Amendment) Ordinance, which continues to maintain the ban on organizations involved in terrorist activities. This means that with not being able to contest the 2026 elections, the Awami League is now in danger of standing as a party in the future elections also.

Amid claims of Sheikh Hasina’s return, action has also been taken against her supporters in Bangladesh. On Monday (June 29) morning, the police raided the Dhanmondi Model Police Station area of ​​the capital Dhaka and arrested 10 leaders and workers of Awami League and its affiliated organizations. According to the police, they were caught when they were suddenly preparing to take out a procession. 15 caps with Jubo League monogram, eight T-shirts with photographs of party leaders and a banner with the words ‘Sheikh Hasina will come, Bangladesh will laugh’ were recovered from them. Police have also seized two buses and a private car, which were being used by the arrested people. All the accused have been presented in the court. More than 18,000 police officers and security personnel have been deployed in the capital and sensitive areas, ANI reports.

How many times has Sheikh Hasina faced a similar crisis before?

Sheikh Hasina has faced serious crises many times in her political career. The first major episode was on 15 August 1975, when Bangladesh’s founder and his father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was assassinated in a military coup. At that time Sheikh Hasina and her sister Sheikh Rehana were on a foreign trip, which saved their lives. After this both of them came to India and remained in exile for almost six years. Meanwhile, in 1981, Sheikh Hasina was elected President of Awami League. On 17 May 1981, she returned to Bangladesh and led the movement to restore democracy against military rule. This was the beginning of her rise in national politics and she later became the Prime Minister of Bangladesh several times.

After this, in 2007 also Sheikh Hasina had to face a big political crisis, although this time she did not have to go into exile. He was arrested and jailed on corruption and extortion charges in July 2007 after the military-backed interim government imposed emergency. Sheikh Hasina called these allegations a political conspiracy. In June 2008, he was released on parole due to health reasons and allowed to go to the United States for treatment. After treatment, she returned to Bangladesh, took charge of her party’s election campaign and led the Awami League to a landslide victory in the December 2008 general elections. After this, on January 6, 2009, he took oath as Prime Minister for the second time.