She was once cast as a worldly heroine, the daughter of a revolutionary leader whose brutal assassination in the 1970s sealed her political rise.
But Sheikh Hasina’s rise to the top of Bangladeshi politics preceded her stunning fall from power to exile in India.
If New Delhi decides to deport her, she could be sentenced to death in absentia and executed.
The ousted leader was convicted of crimes against humanity for the violent crackdown on the student movement that overthrew the government in 2024.
She fled to India last August after 15 years of increasingly authoritarian rule, taking refuge in the capital of its closest ally.
She is now a pawn in a tense standoff between the two countries, with Dhaka demanding her extradition to face justice for crimes it says she did not commit.
“She had to flee the country to escape the anger of the people,” said Mubashar Hasan, a Bangladeshi political scientist. “He was sentenced to death while hiding in India. This is quite an unusual story.”
Hasina’s political journey is a Shakespearean tale, a story of tragedy, exile, and power that is closely tied to the history of her country.
The eldest daughter of charismatic Founding Father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, she entered politics early in life after witnessing Bangladesh’s struggle for autonomy from Pakistan. But it was one bloody night in August 1975 that truly paved her way.
In a brutal military coup, army officers assassinated her father, mother, and three brothers at their home in Dhaka. Hasina and her sister survived because they were visiting West Germany at the time.
In the aftermath of the chaos, General Ziaur Rahman, the husband of future nemesis Khaleda Zia, seized power, and his regime passed laws that protected Mujibur’s assassins for decades.
Overnight, Hasina’s life changed forever, forcing her to spend six years in exile in India, but it instilled in future leaders a deep respect for the Indian nation.
When she finally returned to Bangladesh in 1981, it was a country that screamed its founding ideals of secularism. But she also entered a political arena that was about to be defined by another woman thrust into tragedy. Gia, her husband himself, was assassinated.
Recalling the day she returned from forced exile, Hasina said: “When I landed at the airport, I couldn’t see any of my (relatives), but I received the love of millions of people. That was my only strength.”
Thus began the era of “Battle Begum’s.” This was a deeply personal yet devastating duel between two women that would captivate Bangladesh for the next 30 years.
Hasina, who assumed leadership of her father’s Awami League, embarked on a long journey through the political wilderness, navigating house arrest and repression amid mounting conflict with Zia. In 1996, Hasina led her party to election victory and became prime minister for the first time.
Her first act after taking office was to announce the prosecution of those involved in the 1975 coup and the murder of her family, and the pursuit of justice finally began.
Hasina, a secular Muslim, served one term but lost the next election to Zia. But when she returned to power in 2008, she was seen as a changed leader, someone more resolute, someone who had lost credibility and was determined to secure her position for good.
For the next 15 years, she ruled Bangladesh with an increasingly iron fist, ushering in an era of strong economic growth. At the same time, she provided critical support to India and strengthened New Delhi through economic and security agreements in the region, including its adversaries Pakistan and China.
However, Bangladesh’s successful development came at a heavy price. Human rights groups have warned that Bangladesh and its government are heading toward a one-party dictatorship. Critics expressed concern over increased reports of political violence, voter intimidation, and harassment of media and opposition figures.
As pressure mounts, Hasina “may turn to India for full-scale, no-questions-asked assistance,” the Indian Express newspaper said in a recent editorial.
However, domestically her image became associated with aggressive repression.
“She committed a lot of bloodshed to come to power,” said Hasan, a political scientist.
Hasina’s grip on power seemed seemingly unbreakable. She had proven adept at weathering storms of popular protests, arrests and assassination attempts, but the youth-led uprising that erupted last year was different.
What started as student demonstrations over civil service quotas quickly escalated into a nationwide uproar demanding her resignation. The regime’s response was a brutal crackdown that, according to the United Nations Human Rights Office, has left as many as 1,400 people dead.
But the bloodshed did not crush the movement. It galvanized a movement and turned public anger into an unstoppable force that ultimately overthrew the government.
“She had to run away,” Hasan said. “That act itself was an admission of guilt. The people, the military, everyone turned against her because she overstepped her bounds. She killed people, and her orders were to kill so many people.”
Hasina’s life as a political refugee in New Delhi brings her story full circle and returns her to the same exile she endured nearly half a century ago.
Hasina was sentenced to death in absentia by the International Crimes Tribunal, Bangladesh’s domestic war crimes tribunal, which she helped found. There, Hasina faced charges primarily related to inciting the killing of protesters, ordering the hanging of protesters, and ordering the use of deadly weapons, drones and helicopters to quell the riots.
The court found it was “unequivocal” that she ordered the killing of student protesters. The death sentence was met with applause and tears in the courtroom.
“That gave us some peace of mind,” Abdul Rab, the victim’s father, told Reuters. “But we will be perfectly satisfied when we see the hangman’s rope around her neck.”
India, which also has the death penalty, took a neutral stance, taking note of the ruling and vowing to “engage constructively with all stakeholders.”
Hasina’s family praised New Delhi for giving her shelter. “India has always been a good friend,” Hasina’s son Sajeeb Wazed told local news agency ANI. “India essentially saved my mother’s life during this crisis.”
For more than a decade, Hasina has been one of India’s staunchest regional allies. Her government worked to crack down on anti-India rebels who used Bangladeshi territory as a safe haven.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier praised Hasina for keeping the two countries’ vast borders secure. Now, the fall of the Indian government has raised serious security concerns in New Delhi about the potential re-emergence of Islamic extremist groups.
Anil Trignayat, an Indian diplomat with experience in Bangladesh, said it was “highly doubtful” that New Delhi would send Hasina back to face jail or the death penalty.
The former leader has denied the allegations against her as a political witch hunt, allowing India to claim that the charges against her may be politically motivated.
India’s extradition law and the extradition treaty with Bangladesh include a “political crimes” exception for situations like this, allowing a state to refuse extradition if the crime is political in nature.
“India will have to look at this as a political crime rather than the crimes against humanity that are being prosecuted in India,” he said.
However, Trignayata pointed out that Hasina had not exhausted all legal remedies. He said she could appeal against the Bangladesh Supreme Court’s ruling and then potentially appeal to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
“India will not be in a hurry to send her because all treatments have not been exhausted,” Trignayat said.
On the day of Hasina’s conviction, Bangladesh’s foreign ministry called on India to extradite her “without delay.”
“This is India’s responsibility pursuant to the existing bilateral extradition treaty between the two countries,” the ministry said.
Hasina’s death sentence creates a tense situation ahead of Bangladesh’s elections scheduled for February next year.
The Awami League, to which she belongs, is now banned, its leadership has been scattered, and the interim government led by former Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus faces the monumental task of moving the country out of its deeply polarized political culture.
Awami League’s absence has left a political space open for arch-rival Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party and dozens of other small parties to challenge future elections, but experts warn that deep divisions may not be easily resolved.
Political scientist Hasan said, “Bangladesh is far from reconciliation at this stage.”
He said the Awami League could try to make a political comeback, albeit not under Hasina’s leadership.
The question now is whether Hasina’s death marks the end of a toxic era or simply the beginning of a new chapter of uncertainty.
