'Living Freely In Delhi, But Would Love To Return Home': Ousted Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina

New Delhi: Ousted former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday opened up on her plans to return to Bangladesh.

“I would, of course, love to go home, so long as the government there is legitimate, the Constitution is being upheld, and law and order genuinely prevail,” she told news agency Reuters in an email interview.

The 78-year-old added that she would not return under any government formed after elections that exclude her party and intends to remain in India, where she fled in August 2024 following a deadly student-led protest.

Speaking on the ban on her party, Hasina said, "The ban on the Awami League is not only unjust, it is self-defeating."

Bangladesh's Election Commission suspended the Awami League's registration in May. Earlier, the Yunus-led government banned all party activities, citing national security threats and war crimes investigations into senior Awami League leaders.

Hasina left Dhaka last year after widespread protests erupted over a civil service quota system. Since her ouster, an interim government led by Nobel Peace Laureate Muhammad Yunus has been administering the country and has pledged to hold national elections in February 2027.

Ever since then, she has been living in New Delhi. She said she lives freely here.

Hasina, along with several leaders of her party, faces charges of murder. A trial at the International Crimes Tribunal-1 in Dhaka has recently concluded, during which the government prosecutor sought the death penalty for her. The verdict in the matter is expected on November 13.

Hasina denied the charges agaisnt her, saying she was not personally involved in the use of lethal force or other alleged crimes.

Earlier last year, Hasina's son and adviser Sajeeb Wazed, who lives in Washington that he might consider leading the Awami League.