\n Her voice is that of a frail, elderly woman, but ousted Bangladesh leader Sheikh Hasina still has the power to incite from exile, vowing to return home despite facing the gallows.\n<\/p>\n
\n Analysts say her defiance is not a death wish, but a desperate bid to remain politically relevant, claw on to her supporters, and revive an outlawed party which once dominated Bangladesh.\n<\/p>\n
\n To her enemies, Hasina is evil incarnate -- a convicted fugitive sentenced to hang for crimes against humanity over her failed bid to crush the 2024 revolution that toppled her.\n<\/p>\n
\n The 78-year-old told AFP in July from India that she wanted to return to Bangladesh by the year's end.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"I may be killed. I may be arrested. I may be sent to prison,\" Hasina wrote, in an email sent from hiding.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"I am fully aware of my fate. Still, I want to go back because my people are calling me.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n On Wednesday, marking two years since she fled by helicopter to old ally India, she is due to address by telephone a New Delhi event entitled \"Sheikh Hasina's homecoming\".\n<\/p>\n
\n - 'Instability' -\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Sheikh Hasina's return is important for the survival of the party -- she is still a symbol,\" said Mohammad Jalal Uddin Sikder, a political science professor at North South University (NSU) in Dhaka.\n<\/p>\n
\n One senior member of her Awami League (AL) party said he believed she was genuine in wanting to return.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"She feels obligated because party members are being arrested left and right, despite having no involvement in any crimes,\" he said, too fearful himself to speak on record.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Her return is a way of repaying the party's loyalty.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n Dhaka's Prothom Alo newspaper suggested her vow was \"part of a strategy to energise party members, build pressure for the lifting of the ban on the party, and reclaim political space\".\n<\/p>\n
\n But former senior Awami League member Mahmudur Rahman Manna, now a fierce critic of Hasina, dismissed the vow as self-serving.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"There are people in the AL who have some degree of public acceptance. Sheikh Hasina could have given them a little space to help bring the party back after the ban. She didn't,\" he said.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"The idea that she would come back for the sake of the party is absurd.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n Hasina also knows that simply threatening to return will needle Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, who swept February's elections in which the Awami League was barred, Sikder said.\n<\/p>\n
\n Political imprisonment has a long history in Bangladesh.\n<\/p>\n
\n Under Hasina's rule, Rahman's mother, former leader Khaleda Zia, spent years in jail in Dhaka on graft charges that her party said were politically motivated.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"The Bangladesh government isn't ready to accept her, even if she lands in jail directly from India,\" Sikder told AFP.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Her return will create political instability... I doubt the government can handle that.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n - 'Ensure justice' -\n<\/p>\n
\n Not so, says Zahed Ur Rahman, an adviser to Bangladesh's prime minister.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"We want her back -- please return,\" he told reporters. \"We have written to India. The individual we want to bring back intends to return. We are ready -- let her come, and we will ensure justice.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n Hasina refused to attend her trial in Dhaka, where she was found guilty of incitement, ordering killings and failing to prevent atrocities.\n<\/p>\n
\n Her vow to return comes as Bangladesh and India seek to repair strained ties, with Hasina remaining a persistent point of friction.\n<\/p>\n
\n Dhaka has repeatedly requested her extradition, while New Delhi has said only that the request is being examined through the legal process.\n<\/p>\n
\n But relations have improved since Rahman, leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, became leader, and India has invited him to a BRICS summit in September.\n<\/p>\n
\n India's foreign ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal, speaking to reporters on Tuesday, sought to distance New Delhi from Hasina's \"homecoming\" speech.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"The government has no involvement whatsoever in it, neither does it endorse any views that may be expressed at the forum,\" he said.\n<\/p>\n
\n But some in Bangladesh see India's hand in using Hasina's return threat as leverage.\n<\/p>\n
\n Mahmudur Rahman, editor of Dhaka's Amar Desh newspaper, told AFP he saw her threat as part of a power struggle between New Delhi and Dhaka.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Delhi wants to gain the upper hand,\" he said. \"India is just playing 'Hasina card' to put pressure on the government\".<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Her voice is that of a frail, elderly woman, but ousted Bangladesh leader Sheikh Hasina still has the power to incite from exile, vowing to return home despite facing the gallows. Analysts say her defiance is not a death wish, but a desperate bid to remain politically relevant, claw on to her supporters, and revive […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-162902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n