Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, the former home minister of Bangladesh’s ousted Awami League government and a defendant sentenced to death by a court, said he is prepared to return to the country and face any situation. In a BBC Bangla report published Saturday, he described spending a year in trauma after leaving Bangladesh and said he reached India on September 9 following the government’s fall.

Kamal said he and others were unprepared for the course of events on August 5, 2024, attributing this to overconfidence and incorrect information. He said most people who could not leave are either in jail or displaced from their homes. He also said his son, who he said is not involved in politics, has been jailed for two years.

He claimed his business establishments were vandalised and set on fire, while security personnel have preserved what they can. Kamal said his household in India has mainly been supported by relatives and friends over the past two years. Responding to allegations against police and Ansar personnel under his ministry, he said he believed they performed their duties properly until noon on August 5.