The Bangladeshi government has reacted angrily after former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina held a virtual media press conference in India, describing it as “detrimental to the development of harmonious bilateral relations.”

“This interaction by Sheikh Hasina on the Indian soil stands as an affront to the sovereignty of Bangladesh and a grievous insult to the martyrs of the July Revolution,” the country’s Foreign Ministry posted on X.

The 78-year-old Hasina, who faces the death penalty in her home country, was defiant on Wednesday, saying: “I was forced away from my country, but I was never separated from my people.”

She fled to India in August 2024 after violent protests, which she has repeatedly alleged were orchestrated by external forces, with “foreign mercenaries” present among the protesters. She has vowed to go back in December.

Hasina excoriated the Bangladeshi government over the current state of affairs in the country, saying fear has entered people’s lives. “This is not the Bangladesh that 3 million people sacrificed their lives for.” She alleged persecution of members of her party, the Awami League.

Soon after her address, protests broke out across Bangladesh. The home of former Awami League lawmaker and ex-captain of the country’s cricket team, Skakib Al Hasan, was targeted in a petrol bomb attack, the party posted on X.

Bangladeshi Law Minister M. Asaduzzaman said last month that Hasina would be arrested when she returns to the country.