Ousting of Bangladesh’s Sheikh Hasina not only marked a decisive end to the nation’s fifteen-year female-led rule but also to the corrupt dynastic politics of Bangladesh’s longest-serving ‘Awami League’ party. Hasina’s authoritarian rule came to an end in August 2024 in response to a student-led uprising that initially demanded merit against 30 per cent job quotas being reserved for the descendants of freedom fighters. The protests soon spiraled into a nationwide call for justice that paved the way for the toppling of Hasina’s government, which once ruled with an iron fist.
One year post her ousting, Sheikh Hasina seeks asylum in the West after having fled to India as the incumbent Bangladeshi government, led by the Nobel prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, demands her to be extradited. While Hasina’s departure may have been labelled as Bangladesh’s ‘second liberation’, the more moderate interim government continues to navigate a dubious future as political and economic fissures plague the rebuilding of the nation.
Hasina’s departure may have sparked hope and euphoria among the masses about the possibility of building a freer and more democratic Bangladesh. But the interim government has been fraught with political challenges as it seeks political neutrality in a deeply polarised nation. One such drastic move involves lifting the ban on Islamist parties like Jamaat-e-Islami, who were once banned during Sheikh Hasina’s rule, especially by releasing leaders implicated in aiding anti-India resurgence. This bold move may have appeased the masses who seek to set right Hasina’s authoritarianism and previous jailing of political dissenters, but it may have opened a Pandora’s box in the process. One must not forget that with the current interim government being more moderate and weak-handed compared to Hasina’s iron fist rule, all political parties, including Islamist parties like Hefazat-e-Islam with extreme interpretations of the constitution, demand their share in political governance after years of having been outlawed. Drafting a new constitution one-year after Hasina’s ousting remains as neither party can seem to come to a unanimous common verdict, especially on matters of women’s and minority rights.
Furthermore, while Awami League’s leaders have been jailed with the party outlawed, the interim government struggles not just with old religious-right forces like Jamaat-e-Islami or with the revitalisation of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) but also with the rise of new student-led political parties such as the National Citizens Party (NCP) that calls for transparency and inclusion. While the rise of new political forces may mean giving a voice to different segments of society, with constant infighting over constitutional provisions and parliamentary restructuring, a stable transition under Muhammad Yunus remains to be seen.
With anti-India Islamist leaders having been released from jail as they continue to harken to the Muslim-Hindu divide, minority rights continue to face a predicament whereby violence against Hindu minority groups has become commonplace– something that was once stamped out under the leadership of Hasina. Mob violence, extrajudicial killings, and crimes against women and minorities have risen sharply.
Radical voices seem to have come to the forefront. Critics argue extremist groups engage in attacks on religious minorities, such as the arrest of the Hindu religious figure Chinmoy Krishna Das, which has not just worsened religious divisions but has also worsened Bangladesh’s bilateral ties with Hindu-majority India.
Moreover, with India’s refusal to extradite Hasina despite international warrants for her arrest given her status in Bangladesh as a war criminal awaiting charges for the death of 1,400 individuals, the relations between the two neighbors, once very strong, now seem strained. Between April and June 2025 alone, at least 72 people were killed in political clashes, according to rights group Odhikar, while the police, discredited for their role in the 2024 crackdown, remain demoralised and ineffective. With the absence of a dominant ruling party, many police officials say local law enforcement remains fractured – once again emphasising the weakness of the interim government to ensure political order and reach consensus on constitutional matters.
However, despite the pessimism surrounding minority rights being in the fray, signs of economic recovery remain, even though the economy has been weighed down by Hasina’s corrupt financial legacy, amounting to $44 billion in foreign debt and $240 billion outflows, including the massive tax evasion scandal with India’s Adani group. A notable improvement included an increase from $24 billion to $32 billion between May 2024 and June 2025. Some of the steps undertaken by Yunus’s interim government include launching investigations not only against Sheikh Hasina but also against her niece Tulip Siddiq, who happens to be the UK’s Anti-Corruption Minister, while the primary goal of accountability from financial evasion to human violations remains pending.
Conclusively, as critics do argue that Hasina’s authoritarianism may have been dismantled, optimism over Hasina’s departure can be said to be dampened by delayed justice, given that Hasina has yet to be extradited, and how Bangladesh’s secular fabric lies threatened by internal pluralist and radical forces. For the families of those killed during the protests, like Sanjida Khan Deepti, who lost her 17-year-old son, justice is pending, and many continue to term the regime overthrow as a revolt, but not a revolution, as many had hoped.
Bangladesh Post Sheikh Hasina: Roadmap from Turmoil to Transition
Ousting of Bangladesh’s Sheikh Hasina not only marked a decisive end to the nation’s fifteen-year female-led rule but also to the corrupt dynastic politics of Bangladesh’s longest-serving ‘Awami League’ party. Hasina’s authoritarian rule came to an end in August 2024 in response to a student-led uprising that initially demanded merit against 30 per cent job quotas being reserved for the descendants of freedom fighters. The protests soon spiraled into a nationwide call for justice that paved the way for the toppling of Hasina’s government, which once ruled with an iron fist.
One year post her ousting, Sheikh Hasina seeks asylum in the West after having fled to India as the incumbent Bangladeshi government, led by the Nobel prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, demands her to be extradited. While Hasina’s departure may have been labelled as Bangladesh’s ‘second liberation’, the more moderate interim government continues to navigate a dubious future as political and economic fissures plague the rebuilding of the nation.
Hasina’s departure may have sparked hope and euphoria among the masses about the possibility of building a freer and more democratic Bangladesh. But the interim government has been fraught with political challenges as it seeks political neutrality in a deeply polarised nation. One such drastic move involves lifting the ban on Islamist parties like Jamaat-e-Islami, who were once banned during Sheikh Hasina’s rule, especially by releasing leaders implicated in aiding anti-India resurgence. This bold move may have appeased the masses who seek to set right Hasina’s authoritarianism and previous jailing of political dissenters, but it may have opened a Pandora’s box in the process. One must not forget that with the current interim government being more moderate and weak-handed compared to Hasina’s iron fist rule, all political parties, including Islamist parties like Hefazat-e-Islam with extreme interpretations of the constitution, demand their share in political governance after years of having been outlawed. Drafting a new constitution one-year after Hasina’s ousting remains as neither party can seem to come to a unanimous common verdict, especially on matters of women’s and minority rights.
Furthermore, while Awami League’s leaders have been jailed with the party outlawed, the interim government struggles not just with old religious-right forces like Jamaat-e-Islami or with the revitalisation of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) but also with the rise of new student-led political parties such as the National Citizens Party (NCP) that calls for transparency and inclusion. While the rise of new political forces may mean giving a voice to different segments of society, with constant infighting over constitutional provisions and parliamentary restructuring, a stable transition under Muhammad Yunus remains to be seen.
With anti-India Islamist leaders having been released from jail as they continue to harken to the Muslim-Hindu divide, minority rights continue to face a predicament whereby violence against Hindu minority groups has become commonplace– something that was once stamped out under the leadership of Hasina. Mob violence, extrajudicial killings, and crimes against women and minorities have risen sharply.
Radical voices seem to have come to the forefront. Critics argue extremist groups engage in attacks on religious minorities, such as the arrest of the Hindu religious figure Chinmoy Krishna Das, which has not just worsened religious divisions but has also worsened Bangladesh’s bilateral ties with Hindu-majority India.
Moreover, with India’s refusal to extradite Hasina despite international warrants for her arrest given her status in Bangladesh as a war criminal awaiting charges for the death of 1,400 individuals, the relations between the two neighbors, once very strong, now seem strained. Between April and June 2025 alone, at least 72 people were killed in political clashes, according to rights group Odhikar, while the police, discredited for their role in the 2024 crackdown, remain demoralised and ineffective. With the absence of a dominant ruling party, many police officials say local law enforcement remains fractured – once again emphasising the weakness of the interim government to ensure political order and reach consensus on constitutional matters.
However, despite the pessimism surrounding minority rights being in the fray, signs of economic recovery remain, even though the economy has been weighed down by Hasina’s corrupt financial legacy, amounting to $44 billion in foreign debt and $240 billion outflows, including the massive tax evasion scandal with India’s Adani group. A notable improvement included an increase from $24 billion to $32 billion between May 2024 and June 2025. Some of the steps undertaken by Yunus’s interim government include launching investigations not only against Sheikh Hasina but also against her niece Tulip Siddiq, who happens to be the UK’s Anti-Corruption Minister, while the primary goal of accountability from financial evasion to human violations remains pending.
Conclusively, as critics do argue that Hasina’s authoritarianism may have been dismantled, optimism over Hasina’s departure can be said to be dampened by delayed justice, given that Hasina has yet to be extradited, and how Bangladesh’s secular fabric lies threatened by internal pluralist and radical forces. For the families of those killed during the protests, like Sanjida Khan Deepti, who lost her 17-year-old son, justice is pending, and many continue to term the regime overthrow as a revolt, but not a revolution, as many had hoped.
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