Ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina rebuked senior Awami League leaders over the leak of plans for a face-to-face meeting in New Delhi before leading a virtual gathering on Friday night, according to a senior party leader.

The top Awami League leader told Daily Waadaa via Whatsapp that Hasina joined the meeting from New Delhi at around 9:30pm Indian time and opened it by expressing anger over details of the planned physical gathering becoming public.

She warned party leaders against leaking internal information in the future, the leader said.

The meeting had originally been planned as an in-person gathering at the Delhi residence where Hasina has been staying. Several senior Awami League figures had already travelled to the Indian capital before the format was changed at the last minute. 

The senior leader said Hasina reiterated during Friday’s meeting that she intended to return to Bangladesh by December and said the issue would be pursued strongly with the Indian government.

Hasina was sentenced to death in absentia by Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal in November 2025 after being convicted of crimes against humanity over the deadly crackdown on the 2024 uprising.

Her planned December return had already been expected to feature prominently in the meeting alongside the party’s political, legal and organisational strategy. 

The possible entry of Hasina’s daughter Saima Wazed Putul into the Awami League leadership was also discussed, the leader told Waadaa.

Party leaders have been considering bringing Putul into the Presidium, the Awami League’s highest policymaking body, as part of a broader organisational restructuring. She currently holds no position in the party’s central leadership. 

The Waadaa source said some of seven party figures recently sentenced to death in a case also joined the virtual meeting and were allowed to speak according to seniority. 

They briefed the meeting on their circumstances and problems they were facing.

The switch to a virtual meeting came amid heightened sensitivity over Hasina’s political activities in India. Dhaka has previously protested her participation in political and media events from Indian soil, while New Delhi has distanced itself from at least one such event, saying it was organised by a private entity and the Indian government had no role in it. 

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