Bangladesh's longest-serving prime minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed began her political career as a pro-democracy icon, but fled mass protests against her rule in August 2024 after 15 years in power.
Since then, Hasina has been in self-imposed exile in India, where she flew after being deposed by the student-led uprising which spiraled into nationwide unrest.
On November 17, a special tribunal in Dhaka sentenced her to death after convicting her of crimes against humanity. It was found Hasina had ordered a deadly crackdown on protesters between July 15 and August 5, 2024, denying all charges.
Up to 1,400 people were killed during the weeks of protests leading up to her ousting, most by gunfire from security forces, as noted by UN human rights investigators. Their report found that she and her government had resorted to systematic violence against protesters.
This represented the worst bloodshed the country had seen since its independence in 1971.
The protests unexpectedly brought an end to Hasina's over two-decade reign, during which her Awami League party was credited with overseeing Bangladesh's economic growth.
However, in recent years, she faced accusations of autocracy and suppression of dissent, including politically motivated arrests, disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and other abuses.
An Order to 'Use Lethal Weapons'
In January 2024, Hasina won an unprecedented fourth term in an election dubbed a sham and boycotted by the main opposition.
Protests initiated later that year led to wider anti-government movements, intensifying calls for her resignation, while she condemned protesters as “terrorists” and intensified police crackdowns.
A leaked audio clip suggested she had ordered security forces to use “lethal weapons” against protesters, though she has denied issuing such orders.
The bloodiest incidents occurred on August 5, the day she fled by helicopter before her residence was stormed by crowds. Police killed at least 52 people that day, marking one of the gravest instances of police violence in the nation's history.
Sheikh Hasina has called the tribunal a sham court controlled by her political adversaries to execute a predetermined guilty verdict.
How Did Sheikh Hasina Come to Power?
Born to a Muslim family in East Bengal in 1947, Hasina's political lineage is deep-rooted as her father led Bangladesh's independence movement and became its first president.
After her father's assassination in 1975 and a period of exile in India, she returned to lead the Awami League. She garnered support during the pro-democracy protests against military rule in the 1980s, fast becoming a national icon.
She was first elected in 1996, signing a landmark water-sharing deal with India, but faced allegations of corruption and subservience to India.
Hasina later lost to political rival Khaleda Zia but returned to power in 2009 amid a caretaker government election.
Achievements and Controversies
Bangladesh has witnessed remarkable economic growth under her leadership, with a tripling of per capita income in the last decade and lifting over 25 million people out of poverty.
Growth is powered largely by a booming garment industry. However, her government faces scrutiny for human rights abuses, including enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings, inherited from her earlier rule.
This controversy has overshadowed her government's achievements, as increased costs of living prompted protests against civil service quotas, culminating in her recent fall from grace amidst economic mismanagement criticism.
