She was as soon as forged as a secular heroine, the daughter of a revolutionary chief, whose brutal assassination in the Seventies outlined her political ascent.
But Sheikh Hasina’s rise to the prime of Bangladesh’s politics preceded a surprising fall from energy to self-exile in India.
A demise sentence delivered in absentia might now see her executed – if New Delhi decides to ship her again.
The ousted chief was discovered responsible of crimes in opposition to humanity for the violent suppression of pupil protests that toppled her regime in 2024.
She fled to India final August after 15 years of more and more authoritarian rule, looking for refuge in the capital of one of her closest allies.
Now she’s grow to be a pawn in a tense standoff between the two international locations as Dhaka calls for her extradition to face justice for crimes that she insists she didn’t commit.
“She had to flee the country to flee the rage of the people,” mentioned Bangladeshi political scientist Mubashar Hasan. “Hiding in India and handed down a death penalty. It’s quite an extraordinary story.”
Hasina’s political journey is a narrative of Shakespearean proportions – a saga of tragedy, exile and energy inextricably linked to the historical past of her dwelling nation.
The eldest daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the charismatic “Father of the Nation,” she was thrust into politics early in life as she witnessed Bangladesh’s battle for autonomy from Pakistan. But it was a single, bloody evening in August 1975 that actually cast her path.
In a brutal army coup, military officers assassinated her father, her mom, and three of her brothers in their Dhaka dwelling. Hasina and her sister survived as they had been visiting West Germany at the time.
In the chaotic aftermath, Gen. Ziaur Rahman – the husband of her future arch-nemesis, Khaleda Zia – rose to energy, his regime passing a regulation that will defend Mujibur’s assassins for many years.
Overnight, Hasina’s life was remodeled, and he or she was pressured into six years of exile in India, which imprinted a deep respect for the Indian state on the future chief.
When she lastly returned to Bangladesh in 1981, it was to a nation clamoring for its founding beliefs of secularism. But she additionally entered a political area about to be outlined by one other girl pushed into tragedy: Zia, whose husband had himself been assassinated.
Recalling the day of her return from pressured exile, Hasina said: “When I landed at the airport, I didn’t get anyone of my (relatives) but received love of millions of people, and that was my only strength.”
Thus started the period of the “Battling Begums” – a deeply private, but harmful duel between two ladies that will grip Bangladesh for the subsequent 30 years.
Taking the helm of her father’s Awami League, Hasina launched into an extended journey by way of the political wilderness, navigating home arrests and crackdowns amid a rising rivalry with Zia. In 1996, Hasina led her celebration to electoral victory, turning into Prime Minister for the first time.
Her first act in workplace was to announce the prosecution of these concerned in the 1975 coup and murders of her household, lastly starting a quest for justice.
A secular Muslim, Hasina served for one time period, shedding the subsequent election to Zia. But when she returned to energy in 2008, she was seen as a modified chief – somebody extra resolute, much less trusting and decided to completely safe her place.
For the subsequent 15 years, she dominated Bangladesh with an more and more iron fist, ushering an period of sturdy financial development. At the identical time, she gave India essential assist, bolstering New Delhi by way of financial and safety offers in a neighborhood that features adversaries Pakistan and China.
But Bangladesh’s developmental success got here at a steep value: human rights organizations warned that she and her authorities had been headed towards a one-party system. Critics expressed issues over elevated reviews of political violence, voter intimidation, and harassment of the media and opposition figures.
As the strain mounted, Hasina “could bank on India for full-fledged, no questions asked support,” The Indian Express newspaper mirrored in a recent editorial.
At dwelling, nonetheless, her picture turned related to an aggressive crackdown.
“She committed so much bloodshed to be in power,” the political scientist Hasan mentioned.
Hasina’s grip on energy was seemingly unbreakable. She had confirmed adept at surviving storms of well-liked protest, arrests and assassination makes an attempt, however the youth-led rebellion that erupted final yr was totally different.
What started as pupil demonstrations over civil service job quotas rapidly swelled right into a nationwide roar for her resignation. The regime’s response was a brutal crackdown that, in accordance to the UN human rights workplace, left as many as 1,400 individuals useless.
But the bloodshed didn’t crush the motion – it galvanized it, turning public anger into an unstoppable pressure that in the end toppled her authorities.
“She had to flee,” Hasan mentioned. “That act itself is an acknowledgement of guilt. The people, the forces, everyone turned against her because she pushed the boundaries. She killed, her order was to kill so many.”
Hasina’s life as a political refugee in New Delhi brings her story full circle, returning her to the identical state of exile she endured practically half a century in the past.
Hasina was tried in absentia and sentenced to demise by the International Crimes Tribunal, Bangladesh’s home battle crimes court docket – a judicial physique that she helped arrange. There, Hasina confronted prices primarily associated to inciting the homicide of protesters, ordering demonstrators be hanged, and ordering the use of deadly weapons, drones and helicopters to suppress the unrest.
The court docket discovered it “crystal clear” that she had ordered the killing of pupil demonstrators. The demise sentence was met with applause and tears in the courtroom.
“It pacified us a bit,” Abdur Rab, the father of one sufferer, advised Reuters. “But we will be fully content when we see the hangman’s rope around her neck.”
India, which additionally has the demise penalty, adopted a impartial stance, noting the verdict and vowing to “engage constructively with all stakeholders.”
Hasina’s household has praised New Delhi for giving her refuge. “India has always been a good friend,” Hasina’s son, Sajeeb Wazed, advised native information company ANI. “In the crisis, India has essentially saved my mother’s life.”
For greater than a decade, Hasina was one of India’s most steadfast regional allies. Her authorities was instrumental in cracking down on anti-India rebel teams that used Bangladeshi territory as a secure haven.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had beforehand lauded Hasina for conserving their international locations’ intensive border safe. Now her authorities’s downfall has raised vital safety issues in New Delhi that radical Islamist teams might re-emerge.
Anil Trigunayat, an Indian diplomat who has served in Bangladesh, mentioned he “doubts very much” that New Delhi will ship Hasina dwelling to face jail or demise.
The former chief has rejected the allegations in opposition to her as a political witch hunt, permitting India to make a possible case that the prices in opposition to her had been politically motivated.
India’s extradition regulation, in addition to its extradition treaty with Bangladesh, comprises a “political offense” exception, designed for conditions like this, permitting a state to refuse extradition if the crime is political in nature.
“India will have to look at it (as a) political crime, not the crimes against humanity for which she has been charged there,” he mentioned.
But Trigunayata famous that Hasina hasn’t exhausted all authorized cures. She can enchantment the verdict in Bangladesh’s Supreme Court, then probably the International Criminal Court in The Hague, he mentioned.
“Since not all the remedies are exhausted, India would not be in a rush to send her,” Trigunayat mentioned.
The day Hasina was sentenced, Bangladesh’s international ministry known as on India to hand her over “without delay.”
“This is India’s responsibility in keeping with the existing bilateral extradition treaty between both countries,” the ministry mentioned.
Hasina’s demise sentence units a tense stage for Bangladesh’s elections deliberate for subsequent February.
With her Awami League now banned and its management scattered, the interim authorities led by former Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus faces the monumental activity of steering the nation out of its deeply polarized political tradition.
The Awami League’s absence leaves the political discipline open for its chief rival, Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party, and dozens of different smaller events, to contest any future election, although consultants warn the deep-seated divisions will not be simply resolved.
“Bangladesh is far from reconciliation at this stage,” mentioned the political scientist Hasan.
He says the Awami League could try to stage a political comeback, albeit not below Hasina’s management.
The query now’s whether or not Hasina’s demise marks the finish of a poisonous period, or just the starting of a brand new chapter of uncertainty.