Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Jattvibeday said, “I will be back home this year,” signalling what she described as the end of her exile in India.Hasina has been living in India since August 2024 following the fall of her government amid a student-led protest movement.In an interview with news channel NDTV, Hasina dismissed doubts about her party Awami League’s ability to stage a political comeback despite an ongoing crackdown on its leaders and workers under the successive governments of Muhammad Yunus and BNP’s Tarique Rahman.The former PM said the Awami League was not a “paper organisation” but a “force”, asserting that the party’s return did not depend on the failures of its opponents.“The Awami League creates its own path with the people,” she said.The verdict against me is not justice. It is part of an illegal, unconstitutional and politically motivated process. Sheikh Hasina, Former Bangladesh PMHasina said the party’s ability to translate people’s aspirations into a political movement was rooted in the legacy of Bangladesh’s founding leader, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. She described the present BNP government as unconstitutional, alleging that it had come to power through a “staged election”.“There is no democracy. There is no rule of law. There is no security. The economy has weakened. Minorities are under attack. Extremism is spreading,” Hasina said.She added that the Awami League could not be suppressed by force. “A party that can create a people’s awakening cannot be stopped through fear and intimidation,” she said.Responding to questions about the death sentence handed down to her by the International Crimes Tribunal in Dhaka, Hasina termed the proceedings “illegal, unconstitutional and politically motivated”.“The judiciary has been turned into an instrument of political revenge to make the Awami League leaderless. Such attempts have been made before. They failed then, and they will fail again,” she said.Hasina alleged that the ouster of her government had been orchestrated by “anti-Bangladesh forces” that had misled the public.Defending the Awami League’s record in office, she cited what she described as the government’s economic and social achievements.According to Hasina, Bangladesh recorded GDP growth of 7.25 per cent during her tenure, while foreign direct investment increased fivefold. She also claimed that poverty had fallen to 18.7 per cent and extreme poverty to 5.6 per cent.The former PM further alleged that Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, indigenous communities, Ahmadis and followers of Sufi traditions had remained unsafe since her ouster. She claimed that temples had been vandalised, homes looted and incidents of extortion, violence against women and disruption of religious ceremonies had continued.