Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was dramatically ousted following a brutal crackdown on protesters in 2024 and fled to India, is expected to make a rare public appearance after two years in exile in New Delhi on Wednesday.
asserted
who → oust → Wednesday
Two years after the events of the summer of 2024, which saw an uprising by young people protesting against a reservation system for government jobs turn violent, the 78-year-old is due to appear via videolink at an event hosted by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club (FCC) of South Asia, alongside her son, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, and other Awami League leaders, including former Education Minister Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury Nowfel.
asserted
old → see → Nowfel
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Dhaka continues to seek Hasina’s extradition from India following last year’s death sentence passed against her in absentia for ordering forces to fire on protesters.
asserted
Dhaka → kill → protesters
New Delhi, which has allowed her to remain and resisted attempts to extradite her to Bangladesh, has denied any role in planning the virtual speech, saying the event has been organised by a private media organisation.
asserted
event → allow → organisation
On Tuesday, Bangladeshi authorities banned local media from airing her speech.
asserted
authorities → ban → speech
Hasina’s aide, Abu Obaidha Arin, slammed the move, saying Dhaka’s “efforts to silence dissent cannot extinguish voices” beyond the country’s borders.
asserted
efforts → slam → borders
Hasina has been living in self-imposed exile in New Delhi since student-led protests toppled her Awami League government in August 2024.
asserted
protests → live → August
A caretaker government took over after she fled, before elections were held earlier this year.
asserted
elections → take → ?
She was accused of ordering security forces to crack down brutally on protesters, including telling officers to “shoot them“, and was sentenced to death in absentia in 2025 for crimes against humanity, a verdict she has dismissed as “legally void”.
asserted
she → accuse → humanity
An estimated 1,400 people were killed during the crackdown, and more than 20,000 were injured.
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20,000 → estimate → crackdown
Bangladesh’s interim government had called for the death penalty in relation to that, as well as for 1,500 cases of enforced disappearances during her 17-year rule, according to an official inquiry.
uncertain
government → call → inquiry
Many of those detained were political rivals from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami.
asserted
Many → detain → Party
How has Bangladesh responded to Hasina’s plans to speak?
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Bangladesh → respond → plans
The government has banned Bangladeshi media from broadcasting her speech.
asserted
government → ban → speech
In January, Hasina made an audio address which was played to a packed FCC in New Delhi.
asserted
which → make → Delhi
In it, she accused Muhammad Yunus, the head of Bangladesh’s then-interim government, of being a “murderous fascist” and said Bangladesh would “never experience free and fair elections” under him.
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Bangladesh → accuse → him
More than 100,000 people listened to the address, which was broadcast online.
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which → listen → address
Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was “surprised and shocked” that she had been allowed to make the speech from India.
asserted
she → say → India
“Allowing the event to take place in the Indian capital and letting mass murderer Hasina openly deliver her hate speech … constitute a clear affront to the people and the Government of Bangladesh,” the ministry said in a statement on Sunday about the address – Hasina’s first since she was ousted.
asserted
she → allow → address
The Foreign Ministry’s statement added that Hasina had “openly called for the removal” of the interim government and issued “blatant incitements to her party loyalists and the general public to carry out acts of terror” to derail the elections, which were held on February 12 this year.
asserted
which → add → February
With Hasina in exile in India, hundreds of families who lost loved ones in the protests have been left wondering if the deposed prime minister will face justice.
asserted
minister → lose → justice
Among them is Shaina Begum, the mother of 20-year-old student Sajjat Hosen Sojal, who was shot and his body burned by the police hours before the student-led uprising forced Hasina to resign and flee the country.
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uprising → shoot → country
“I cannot be calm until she [Hasina] is brought back and hanged in this country,” she told Al Jazeera after the former leader’s death sentence was announced.
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sentence → bring → Jazeera
What is Hasina expected to say in her speech?
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Hasina → expect → speech
Hasina’s speech will mark two years of her government’s fall on August 5, 2024, when she fled to India by helicopter.
asserted
she → mark → helicopter
She is expected to give some indication of her political future at the event, which is titled “Sheikh Hasina’s homecoming”.
asserted
which → expect → event
Last month, the former prime minister said she and other Awami League leaders planned to return from exile in December this year and present themselves at court.
asserted
she → say → court
“I may be killed.
uncertain
I → kill → ?
I may be arrested.
uncertain
I → arrest → ?
I may be sent to prison,” Hasina told the AFP news agency.
uncertain
Hasina → send → agency
Still, I want to go back because my people are calling me.”
asserted
people → want → me
Returning to Bangladesh despite a death sentence hanging over her is seen by some as an attempt to remain politically relevant and revive an outlawed party that once dominated Bangladesh.
asserted
that → return → Bangladesh
The Awami League was barred from participating in this year’s elections, in which the BNP, led by Tarique Rahman, won a two-thirds majority.
asserted
BNP → bar → majority
Smruti Pattanaik, research fellow at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies & Analyses in New Delhi, said Hasina’s plan to announce her return is likey aimed at mobilising Awami League members and providing them with some direction.
asserted
plan → say → direction
Going back to Bangladesh “will allow her party to project that it is not scared to face the charges”, Pattanaik told Al Jazeera.
asserted
Pattanaik → go → Jazeera
If the Awami League is to survive, “the leadership needs to think of the party’s future rather than individual gain”.
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leadership → survive → gain
The new government led by Rahman is unlikely to welcome her back.
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government → lead → her
Under Hasina’s rule, Rahman’s mother, former leader Khaleda Zia, who died in December last year, spent years in jail in Dhaka on corruption charges, which the BNP says were politically motivated.
asserted
BNP → die → charges
Some observers have warned that the return of Hasina, who still has a sizeable following in Bangladesh who she may be able to mobilise, risks creating political instability.
uncertain
she → warn → instability
Why hasn’t India extradited her?
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India → extradite → her
…and 14 more, not listed.
The Aporia
