Toppled Bangladesh leader Sheikh Hasina to speak today: What we can expect

What the report says

Former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to make a rare public appearance by videolink on Wednesday, according to Al Jazeera, as she marks two years since her government was ousted in August 2024. The event is being hosted by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of South Asia in New Delhi and is titled “Sheikh Hasina’s homecoming.” Al Jazeera says Hasina, who has lived in exile in India since fleeing Bangladesh, is likely to say something about her political future and a planned return.

The report says Bangladesh’s interim authorities have moved to block the speech from being carried on local media and continue to seek Hasina’s extradition. That effort comes after a death sentence was handed down against her in absentia over the deadly crackdown on protesters during the 2024 uprising. Hasina has rejected the verdict as invalid. Al Jazeera also notes that India has allowed her to remain in New Delhi and has denied any role in organizing the virtual appearance.

According to the article, the speech comes amid continuing tension over accountability for the crackdown, which followed student-led protests that grew into a wider movement against her rule. The report says some families of those killed want Hasina returned to face justice, while supporters may see her re-emergence as an attempt to keep the Awami League politically relevant after the party was barred from this year’s election.

Al Jazeera also places the episode in the context of uneasy Bangladesh-India relations and the legal dispute over extradition, noting that analysts view the issue as both a legal and political test for all sides.