Sheikh Hasina Wazed (b. 28 September 1947, Tungipara) is the longest-serving prime minister of Bangladesh and has served five terms in office. She is the daughter of Bangladesh’s founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and has been one of the most influential and controversial figures in Bangladeshi politics.

Early Life and Family

Hasina was born in the village of Tungipara. Her father, Bangabandhu Mujibur Rahman, was a leader of the movement that secured the country’s independence in 1971 and became the first president of independent Bangladesh. Growing up in a deeply political atmosphere alongside her mother and siblings, Hasina became involved in politics from an early age.

Her family was killed during a military coup on 15 August 1975; Hasina survived because she was in West Germany at the time with her sister Sheikh Rehana. After this event, she moved to the United Kingdom and then to India, where she lived in exile for many years. Hasina married physicist Wazed Miah in 1968 and has two children.

Education and Student Years

Hasina completed her early education in her hometown and then enrolled at the University of Dhaka, where she studied Bengali literature and graduated in 1973. She played an active role in student movements, serving as president of the student wing of the Awami League and being elected vice president of the student union in 1966. During this period she acted as a political coordinator for her father.

Exile and Return to Politics

After her father’s assassination, Hasina lived in exile for approximately six years. When she returned to Bangladesh in 1981, she was elected leader of the Awami League, the party founded by her father and now the country’s largest political force. She was frequently arrested and placed under house arrest for her struggle for democracy against the military regime.

Political Struggle After 1990

Hasina played a key role in the popular uprising of 1990 alongside her rival Begum Khaleda Zia in pressuring the then military leader Ershad to step down. Although her party suffered a heavy defeat in the 1991 elections, she retained her position as leader of the opposition. Allegations of electoral fraud in those elections generated prolonged political tension.

First Term as Prime Minister (1996–2001)

Hasina became prime minister for the first time on 23 June 1996 after the Awami League won a majority in the general elections. In the 2001 elections her party suffered a severe defeat. During these years she survived numerous assassination attempts; in a 2004 attack she suffered permanent damage to her hearing.

Resurgence and Long-Term Rule (2009–2024)

Hasina became prime minister for the second time following the Awami League’s victory in the 2008 elections and was sworn in on 6 January 2009. From that date onward she remained in power for four consecutive terms, setting a record in her country’s history.

In the January 2024 elections she was elected prime minister for a fifth time, solidifying her status as Bangladesh’s longest-serving leader.

Key Highlights During Her Prime Ministership

• Economy: She claimed to have reduced the poverty rate from 31.5% to 20.5%. The country recorded an average annual growth rate of 7%.
• Rohingya Crisis (2017): She opened Bangladesh’s borders to more than 700,000 Rohingya fleeing violence in Myanmar; she received international praise but faced criticism over the lack of a lasting solution.
• Criticism of Opposition and Press Freedom: Throughout her tenure, allegations of suppressing the opposition and restricting freedom of expression dominated public discourse.
• Economic Hardships: Criticism of the government intensified after the COVID-19 pandemic due to inflation and foreign exchange crises.

2024 Protests and Departure from the Country

The protests that began in Bangladesh in July 2024 were among the most intense social upheavals in the country’s recent history. What started as a reaction against a quota system reserving government jobs for children of independence war veterans quickly spread nationwide. Student movements opposing the government were decisive in the early phase of the protests, but as the unrest grew, casualties and the intensity of security force interventions increased sharply.

During the protests, hundreds of people lost their lives and thousands were arrested. There was widespread criticism that Hasina’s government resorted to “harsh and repressive methods” to suppress the demonstrations. In this atmosphere, the government blamed the Jamaat-e-Islami Party and student organizations for the unrest, while opposition groups argued that the government itself was the primary source of violence.

During the peak of the violent incidents, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina left her official residence and flew to India by military helicopter. On the same day, protesters stormed the prime minister’s residence and the national administration effectively collapsed. Shortly afterward, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus was sworn in as “interim head of government.”

Death Sentence

Following these events, the International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh (ICT) opened a case against former Prime Minister Hasina, holding her responsible for the mass casualties during the July 2024 protests. In the prosecution’s indictment by ICT Chief Prosecutor Muhammad Tajul Islam, the government’s crackdown on the protests was classified as a “crime against humanity”, and Hasina was directly held accountable for her decisions during this period.

The tribunal convened a panel of three judges and tried Hasina in absentia. The court concluded that she was responsible for:

• The lethal interventions carried out by security forces during the protests,
• The deaths of hundreds of civilians,
• The systematic use of state power against demonstrators.

The ICT sentenced Hasina to death for the crime of “crimes against humanity.” In the same ruling, former Interior Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and Inspector General of Bangladesh Police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun were also sentenced to death on identical charges.

This verdict is viewed as a consequence of the political vacuum created after Hasina’s departure from the country following nearly two decades of uninterrupted rule.