sheikh hasina
Dhaka: Sheikh Hasina, who was elected Prime Minister for the fourth consecutive time and fifth time overall in Bangladesh, has always been praised by her supporters as an ‘Iron Lady’. But now her 15-year rule has come to a dramatic end. Hasina is known for providing stability to the once military-ruled Bangladesh, but at the same time she is also criticized by her opponents as an ‘autocratic’ leader. Hasina (76) is one of the few longest-ruling women in the world. Hasina, daughter of Bangladesh’s founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was at the helm of this strategically important South Asian country since 2009. She was elected Prime Minister for the fourth consecutive time in the 12th general election held in January.
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The election was boycotted by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its allies. Born in September 1947 in then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), Hasina became active in politics in the late 1960s while studying at Dhaka University. She served as her father’s political liaison during his imprisonment by the Pakistani government. After Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan in 1971, her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman became the country’s president and then prime minister. However, in August 1975, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, his wife and their three sons were assassinated in their home by military officers. Hasina and her younger sister Sheikh Rehana escaped the attack as they were abroad. Hasina spent six years in exile in India, later being elected leader of the Awami League, the party founded by her father.
sheikh hasina
Hasina returned home in 1981
Hasina returned home in 1981 and became a vocal voice for democracy in the military-ruled country, which led to her being placed under house arrest several times. In the 1991 general election in Bangladesh, the Hasina-led Awami League failed to secure a majority. Her rival BNP’s Khaleda Zia became the Prime Minister. Five years later, Hasina was elected Prime Minister in the 1996 general election. Hasina was voted out of power in the 2001 election, but returned to power with a landslide victory in the 2008 election. Since then, the Khaleda Zia-led BNP has been in trouble. An attempt was made to assassinate Hasina in the year 2004, when a grenade exploded at her rally.
Hasina’s return to power in 2009
Hasina set up a tribunal to try the 1971 war crimes cases soon after coming to power in 2009. The tribunal convicted some senior opposition leaders, leading to violent protests. Jamaat-e-Islami, an Islamist party and key ally of the BNP, was banned from contesting elections in 2013. BNP chief Khaleda Zia was sentenced to 17 years in prison on corruption charges. The BNP boycotted the 2014 election but rejoined in 2018. Party leaders later said the election was a mistake and alleged widespread voting fraud and intimidation.
Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina
Bangladesh’s economy grew rapidly
Hasina has led one of the world’s fastest-growing economies over the past 15 years and improved the South Asian nation’s quality of life. A news website gave her the nickname “Iron Lady” several years ago and the term has been used by Western media to refer to her since then. Hasina has won praise for her handling of the world’s biggest refugee crisis, when more than one million Rohingyas fled neighbouring Myanmar to escape persecution after a military crackdown in their country in 2017.
Supporters and opponents have their own arguments
Hasina is also credited with skillfully negotiating between the rival interests of India and China. Ahead of the elections, she received the support of both key neighbours and Russia. Those close to her said the prime minister was a “workaholic” and followed the rules of Islam on a daily basis. Political opponents described Hasina’s government as an “autocratic” and corrupt regime, while civil society figures and rights groups accused it of human rights abuses. (PTI)
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