Published : 20 Sep 2026, 03:18 PM
Updated : 20 Sep 2026, 03:18 PM
The government is not focused on when ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina and members of her Awami League leadership plan to return to Bangladesh, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed has said.
“We are not paying attention whether they will return in December or February,” he told reporters at a briefing at the Secretariat on Sunday.
The minister responded to a question about Hasina's remarks regarding a return to Bangladesh and proposed “lockdown” protests by the party and their effect on law and order in the country.
“We have heard about a lockdown. But can you see it?” Salahuddin said.
He then alleged that the Awami League had been responsible for the deaths of 1,400 people and crimes against humanity, citing a UN report, while saying Bangladesh's own report put the death toll at more than 2,000.
He also alleged that members of the Awami League, whose activities had been banned, had not apologised or expressed regret to the nation and were making statements from abroad.
“We are not at all concerned by their activities. This nation will never politically accept them in this country,” he said.
Asked about crude bomb attacks and vehicles being set on fire at different locations in Dhaka, Salahuddin said the Awami League had announced what he described as a “so-called programme” in response to a verdict by the International Crimes Tribunal on crimes against humanity.
He said several crude bombs had been detonated in parts of the capital at night in connection with the programme, which he said was being referred to as a “lockdown”.
The minister said those responsible for the incidents were being arrested.
He said people who had thrown a crude bomb outside the High Court gate had also been arrested, while arrests had been made over a Jatrabari incident as well.
He said some abandoned buses and buses parked at different locations at night without drivers or helpers had been targeted and set on fire.
“We are trying to find out who the perpetrators are by examining CCTV footage, identifying them and, of course, taking action against them,” he said.
Hasina announced in August that she wanted to return to Bangladesh in December.
She had earlier told Reuters that she and senior Awami League colleagues planned to return from exile in India around December and surrender to the courts.
