Now, in exile in India, Hasina, often dubbed the 'Iron Lady' of Bangladesh, watches from across the border as the nation she helped build, and often ruled with a firm hand, grapples with the legacy her rise and fall has left behind.
Bangladesh's former prime minister Khaleda Zia, who was released from jail after the ouster of her arch-rival Sheikh Hasina, has received a renewed passport, her party said on Wednesday.
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islam's student front, Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS), has secured a significant victory in the central students union elections at Jahangirnagar University (JU), following a similar win at Dhaka University. This outcome has surprised many, as these universities were not traditionally strongholds for the Islamist group.
A Bangladeshi court has sent 16 people, including veterans of the 1971 Liberation War, to jail under the Anti-Terrorism Act after a mob disrupted their public discussion.
Bangladesh's Election Commission has announced that general elections will be held in the first week of February 2025. The announcement comes amid concerns about ensuring a free, fair, and impartial election. The BNP is expected to participate, potentially without its former ally, Jamaat-e-Islami.
He made the remarks during a meeting with the leaders of various political parties and civil society representatives at Bangabhaban in the presence of the chief of three forces, the Bengali-language daily Prothom Alo reported.
Moreover, the process to release those arrested between July 1 to August has started, and many have already been released, it added.
Bangladesh's Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus announced that the next general election will be held in February 2026, marking the first anniversary of the 'July Uprising'.
Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal is set to formally hear charges against deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday allowing state-run BTV to broadcast live the event, a first such instance in the country's history.
Yunus said his administration took over to carry out three mandates 'justice, reform and elections.'
Bangladesh's interim government chief Professor Muhammad Yunus is considering resigning after political parties failed to reach a common ground, according to the National Citizen Party (NCP) chief. Yunus, appointed after a student-led uprising toppled the previous government, expressed concerns about his ability to function in the current political climate.
The chief adviser's decision to stay in office came two days after he told student-led National Citizen Party (NCP) leaders that he was mulling resignation as he felt "the situation is such that he cannot work", citing difficulties in working amid the failure of political parties to find common ground for change.
Deposed Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has issued a strong warning against threats to ban her Awami League party, calling the demands "audacious" and accusing Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus of being a "fraud" and "corrupt" for his role in the current interim government. Hasina, who fled Bangladesh in August 2024 following a student-led uprising, claims Yunus assumed power through a "meticulous design" with funding from overseas and misled students and people. She asserts that her Awami League is the legitimate party, with a strong history of fighting for the people's rights, and accuses Yunus and his supporters of having no constitutional basis or people's mandate to rule the country.
'India is using Hasina to warn the Yunus government because there is a ground support for the Awami League in Bangladesh.'
The Anti-Discrimination Student Movement (SAD), which led protests against Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has launched itself as a political party called the National Citizen Party (NCP). The new party, which aims to 'dismantle constitutional autocracy' and establish a 'second republic,' has pledged to create a 'solely Bangladesh-oriented' political system, with no room for 'pro-India and pro-Pakistan politics.' The NCP's inaugural rally was attended by representatives of various political parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Jamaat-e-Islami, and envoys from the Vatican and Pakistan.
Israelis and Palestinians rejoiced as they reunited with loved ones after the hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which Sheikh Hasina has crushed during her multiple terms as prime minister, has stirred into action after its leader Begum Khaleda Zia was released from prison.
A day after her release from house arrest, Bangladesh's former prime minister and Bangladesh National Party (BNP) chairperson Khaleda Zia on Wednesday thanked the people of the country for their 'struggle to make possible the impossible' and said it is not 'anger' or 'revenge' but 'love and peace' which will rebuild the nation.
22 images that captures glimpses of a most unusual Indian who led the nation for 10 years.
Sheikh Hasina, who was elected for a record fourth consecutive term and fifth overall term this year, was always admired by her supporters as "Iron Lady", before the dramatic development that abruptly ended her 15-year-rule in Bangladesh.
A lawyer was killed on Tuesday during clashes between the security personnel and followers of a Hindu community leader, who was denied bail and sent to jail by a court in the port city of Chattogram in Bangladesh, police said.
"Everything has been finalised. Now only the formalities, including getting a visa, remain to be completed, which might be completed in a day," a source said.
Bangladesh's interim government on Wednesday said it is 'consulting all stakeholders' to decide the fate of President Mohammed Shahabuddin, as authorities beefed up security around his residence in the wake of protests demanding his removal over comments that raised questions on prime minister Sheikh Hasina's resignation.
Bangladesh is in turmoil, which is not good news for India, which shares a porous 4000 km border with it. There is a danger of fundamentalism growing there, and India has to move in to reset its ties with the new dispensation before China and Pakistan make capital out of it, alerts Ramesh Menon.
A Bangladeshi court on Tuesday denied bail to prominent Hindu leader Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, arrested on alleged 'sedition' charges, and sent him to prison, amid protests by community members in the capital Dhaka and the port city of Chattogram.
At least 30 suspects have been detained in Bangladesh's Chattogram city for their alleged involvement in the killing of a lawyer and attacking security personnel following the arrest of a prominent Hindu community leader. The violence erupted after Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, spokesperson for Bangladesh Sammilita Sanatani Jagran Jote, was denied bail and sent to jail in a sedition case. The lawyer, Assistant public prosecutor Saiful Islam, was killed during clashes between security personnel and Das' followers. The interim government has condemned the violence, urging people to remain calm and has ordered an investigation into the killing and appropriate legal measures.
In an apparent fall-out of the domestic political standoff over war crimes trial and consequent violence, opposition leader and Bangladesh National Party Chairperson Khaleda Zia cancelled her meeting with visiting Indian President Pranab Mukherjee that was scheduled for Monday, casting a shadow on the latter's maiden foreign visit since taking over the highest constitutional post seven months ago.
Talking to reporters after placing a wreath at the grave of former president and BNP founder Zia-ur Rahman in the city, Fakhrul said India is seemingly not keeping its commitment towards democracy by providing shelter to her.
'Bangladesh has become unstable and this instability will impact India.'
A murder case has been filed against Bangladesh's ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina and six others over the death of a grocery shop owner during last month's violent clashes that led to the fall of her government, media reports said on Tuesday.
'My father died in the liberation struggle. Bangladesh is our Motherland. This is home,' says Monindra Kumar Nath, a Hindu who has lived his 74 years in Dhaka.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has criticised opposition's ongoing agitation to thwart the January 5 polls and warned that Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader Khaleda Zia would be held responsible for the deaths and violence.
"I'm taking all responsibility (of the country). Please cooperate," he said in a televised address amid reports that Hasina has left the country.
'In the interim, India will be confronted with anti-India feeling because Sheikh Hasina had India's support.' 'We will have to deal with it, but it will not be a permanent phenomenon.' 'There is substantial goodwill towards India which will stand us in good stead.'
Although there is no extradition treaty between the two countries, the Indian government assured that they would inquire into it, and if any terrorists were found, they would take measures to send them back, the Bangladesh premier said.
Bangladesh's main opposition leader Khaleda Zia has condemned recent attacks on Hindus in different parts of the country allegedly by activists of fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami and demanded punishment to perpetrators of the attacks.
A former chief of Bangladesh's premier military intelligence agency on Monday claimed that ex-Prime Minister Khaleda Zia knew beforehand the 2004 grenade attack plot mainly targeting the then leader of Opposition Sheikh Hasina.
Bangladesh descended into chaos on Monday as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina surreptitiously resigned and fled the country in a military aircraft while the Army stepped in to fill the power vacuum.
Videos on social media showed protesters climbing a statue of Hasina's father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, a 1971 Liberation War hero, in Dhaka and smashing it with hammers.
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