Sheikh Hasina: From 'iron lady' to fleeing 'dictator'

Bangladesh's former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was elected for a record fourth consecutive term and fifth overall term this year, was always admired by her supporters as the proverbial 'iron lady' before the dramatic developments that abruptly ended her 15-year rule.

Hasina, who provided stability to the once military-ruled Bangladesh, but was at the same time criticised as an "autocrat" by opponents, was among the world's longest-serving female heads of government.

The 76-year-old daughter of Bangladesh founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had been ruling the strategically located South Asian nation since 2009. She was elected for a record fourth consecutive term in January in an election boycotted by the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led by former premier Khaleda Zia, and its allies.

Born in erstwhile East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) in September 1947, Hasina became active in politics while studying at the University of Dhaka in the late 1960s and served as her father's political liaison during his imprisonment by the Pakistani government.

Once Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan in 1971, Mujibur Rahman became president and then prime minister of the country. However, in August 1975, Rahman, his wife and their three sons were assassinated in their home by military officers.

Hasina and her younger sister Sheikh Rehana survived the purge as they were abroad. Hasina, who spent six years in exile in India, was elected as leader of the Awami League, a party founded by her father.

In 1981, Hasina returned home and became vocal about democracy in the country ruled by the military, which placed her under house arrest on multiple occasions. In the 1991 general elections, the Hasina-led Awami League failed to secure a majority, and Khaleda Zia became prime minister.

Five years later, Hasina was elected prime minister in the 1996 general elections, voted out of office in the 2001 elections, and again returned to power with a thumping victory in 2008. The BNP has been left out in the cold since then.

In the interim, Hasina escaped an assassination bid in 2004 when a grenade exploded at one of her rallies. Soon after coming to power in 2009, she set up a tribunal to try 1971 war crimes cases. The tribunal convicted some high-profile members of the opposition, sparking violent protests.

Jamaat-e-Islami, an Islamist party and a key ally of the BNP, was banned from participating in elections in 2013, and Khaleda was sentenced to 17 years in prison on corruption charges.

The BNP boycotted the 2014 elections but joined the one in 2018, which party leaders later said was a mistake, alleging that voting was marred with widespread rigging and intimidation. In the 2024 elections, the BNP and its allies boycotted the polls, demanding they be held under a non-party caretaker government, and alleging that Hasina couldn't deliver credible elections.

The polls were fought by 27 political parties, including the parliamentary opposition Jatiya Party. The rest were members of the Awami League-led coalition, which experts dubbed as "satellite parties." The BNP’s boycott, however, raised questions about the credibility of the polls, which registered a low turnout.

Six months after the elections, a massive protest erupted against Hasina's government over a controversial quota system that reserved 30 per cent of government jobs for relatives of veterans who fought in Bangladesh's War of Independence in 1971. Over 300 protesters were killed in violence during the protests, which led to her dramatic ouster on Monday.

Hasina presided over one of the world’s fastest-growing economies and improved living standards in the South Asian nation in the past 15 years. Newsnextbd.com dubbed her the 'iron lady' several years ago, a moniker since picked up by Western media.

Her supporters credit Hasina with helming development projects and providing stability to the country, which has witnessed military rule for years. Hasina also won praise for her handling of the world’s biggest refugee crisis as over a million Rohingyas took shelter in Bangladesh after fleeing for their lives from neighbouring Myanmar to evade persecution following a 2017 army crackdown.

The now former prime minister is credited with skilfully negotiating the rival interests of India and China as Bangladesh is virtually sandwiched between the two Asian giants, both of whom as well as Russia supported her ahead of the elections.

Bangladesh's per capita income has tripled since Hasina took power in January 2009, while its gross domestic product (GDP) clocked a growth rate of 7.28 per cent last year. The country of nearly 170 million has achieved near self-sufficiency in food production and raised average life expectancy to levels higher than neighbouring India.

Rising energy and commodity prices in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, however, forced her government to seek IMF support amid falling foreign reserves. Workers in Bangladesh’s main export-earning garment industry were dissatisfied with a recent wage hike and lodged protests in recent years.

Political opponents described Hasina’s government an "autocratic" and corrupt, while many civil society figures and rights groups accused it of abuse. A 2022 US human rights report highlighted widespread abuse, with security forces enjoying impunity. Corruption has been the other major issue.

Hasina is mother to a daughter who is an expert on mental health and an ICT specialist son, who is also her ICT affairs adviser. Her husband was a nuclear scientist who died in 2009.

With agency inputs