What Goes Behind Sheikh Hasina's Homecoming? She Responds To NDTV Question

Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday responded to NDTV's question on whether she wanted a "back channel" with the current government in Dhaka before she seeks to return home, and how she plans to communicate with the people in her country, given that her speeches were banned.

Hasina was addressing a virtual press conference via an audio call, in what was her second public media interaction since being ousted and fleeing to India on August 5, 2024.

She was asked by NDTV's Aditya Raj Kaul about the "blanket ban" that Bangladesh has put on her speeches yesterday and today and how she wishes to communicate to people back in her country.

On being asked whether she wants some kind of mediation from a neutral party or country before she leaves India, Hasina replied that she only wanted to go back to Bangladesh and it was not a matter of which government was in power.

"I told you that I was not ready to leave my country (in 2024). I didn't know that I was coming here. But somehow I reached here and took shelter," she told NDTV.

While she acknowledged India as a friendly country, Hasina said that she wanted to go back to Bangladesh now.

"I believe that I should go. I am going for my people. It is not a matter of government," she said.

Hasina called India a "great friend".

"Any time Bangladesh is in a disastrous position, India has alwyas stood beside them and they give shelter every time - be it 1971 or 1975. Now, government to government relationship is different. But India always has been a great friend, and I know they will remain that," she said.

Last November, Hasina was sentenced to death in absentia by a special tribunal in Dhaka for alleged "crimes against humanity" over her government's crackdown on student-led protests in 2024.

Since then, Dhaka has been urging New Delhi to extradite her.