National Citizen Party (NCP) leader Nahid Islam, MP, on Friday said ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina should return to the country so that the death sentence can be carried out.

He made the remarks while speaking to journalists after an event organised by the National SME Foundation to mark International Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) Day 2026.

"The gallows are waiting for Sheikh Hasina", Nahid said.

His comments came after Hasina told Reuters in an interview on Friday that she and senior Awami League leaders plan to return from exile in India around December and surrender.

Nahid said the Bangladesh government would determine the timing and process of Hasina’s return, including discussions with India.

The opposition party’s Chief Whip said Hasina speaks only within the limits permitted by India, claiming that ‘her decisions are not entirely her own personal decisions.’

“Whether Sheikh Hasina will return or not, how she will return, and whether she will face trial — all of these matters will largely depend on the diplomatic and political understanding between Delhi and Dhaka. Sheikh Hasina or the Awami League is no longer a political party now”, he added.

Hasina is residing in India, defying the death sentence handed down in absentia by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in November last year for crimes against humanity linked to the July Uprising of 2024.

She fled the country on August 5, 2024, after millions took to the streets to protest the killings of hundreds of protesters by security forces.

A fact-finding report by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) last year revealed that up to 1,400 people were killed during the final weeks of the uprising that led to her ouster.