Bangladesh's fugitive ex-prime minister Sheikh Hasina said Wednesday she would return to her country in December even if it meant imprisonment, insisting "fear cannot decide" her "duty to the people".
Her speech in neighbouring India sparked fury in Dhaka, where protesters burnt her effigy and the government said it was "outraged" and that it had damaged diplomatic ties.
"I may be detained, I may be sent to prison. But fear cannot decide my duty to the people," Hasina, 78, said in an audio broadcast to a packed press club in New Delhi.
"I cannot stay away while my beloved countrymen are suffering," added Hasina, who is in hiding in India.
She was speaking on the second anniversary since her iron-fisted rule was overthrown on August 5, 2024 by a student-led uprising.
Hasina fled by helicopter to India as crowds stormed her palace.
The United Nations says up to 1,400 people were killed in crackdowns as she tried to cling to power.
In November 2025, a court in Dhaka found Hasina guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced her to be hanged.
Bangladesh has formally requested Hasina's extradition, which New Delhi has said was "under examination".
- 'Mass murderer' -
Dhaka's foreign ministry issued a fierce rebuke after the speech.
"Bangladesh is outraged," it said in a statement.
"Convicted mass murderer Hasina and her mafia enterprise will never have a place in the polity of Bangladesh."
Her vow to return comes as Bangladesh and India seek to repair strained ties, with Hasina remaining a persistent point of friction.
India's foreign ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal, speaking to reporters ahead of the event, said that New Delhi's "government has no involvement whatsoever in it, neither does it endorse any views that may be expressed".
But Dhaka's foreign ministry said that allowing Hasina to speak in public was "deeply hurtful to our people's sentiment and detrimental to the development of harmonious bilateral relations".
Hasina said she wanted to return in December as it marks the month Bangladesh gained independence in 1971.
Her remarks echoed comments in a July interview to AFP in which she said she wanted to return to Bangladesh by the year's end.
"I may be killed. I may be arrested. I may be sent to prison," Hasina wrote in an email sent from hiding. "I am fully aware of my fate. Still, I want to go back because my people are calling me."
The Bangladeshi government has said it will ensure Hasina receives due legal process in all cases against her should she return.
Rights groups have long accused Hasina's former administration of abuses including the murder of rivals, suppression of opposition parties, rigged courts and one-sided elections.
