Police in Bangladesh fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse supporters of deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who are demanding her return from exile in India. A police vehicle was set on fire in Gopalganj district, where the banned student wing of her Awami League party, the Bangladesh Chhatra League, clashed with security forces. The nationwide protests began a day after Hasina said she had asked for a passport to return to Bangladesh, and they are seen as the first organised show of force by her supporters since she was ousted in August 2024. A bus driver was killed in the unrest.
Those backing her call for return argue that she has been denied a fair process. Hasina was sentenced to death in absentia last year by a special Bangladeshi tribunal after being found guilty of crimes against humanity, a verdict she has called biased and politically motivated. The Awami League's activities were banned soon after she fled, and it was not allowed to contest the February general election. A senior leader of the student wing, now in exile, said its supporters believe in peaceful protest and were not responsible for the violent incidents, which he said were carried out by unknown miscreants. Hasina said she wanted to return in December despite the death sentence, and requested a passport from the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi.
The government and many Bangladeshis see the matter very differently. The United Nations has estimated that up to 1,400 people were killed, most by gunfire from security forces, during the anti-government protests of 2024 that ended her 15-year rule, and opposition parties accused her of jailing rivals, suppressing dissent and overseeing widespread human rights abuses, which she has always denied. The government refused to provide a passport and called her a terrorist, and junior foreign minister Humaiun Kobir said she is a fugitive criminal, noting that Bangladesh has an active extradition treaty with India and wants her handed over. The latest unrest has been costly in its own right: a 60-year-old bus driver died from smoke inhalation after a vehicle was set on fire in Faridpur, local media reported dozens of crude bombs exploding in recent days, and about 200 protesters briefly blocked the 6.2km Padma bridge.
What happens next matters for South Asia. Bangladesh says it has an active extradition treaty with India and wants Hasina handed over, and Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed has warned that any attempt to create instability from across the border will not be allowed to succeed. For Bangladesh, the risk is that the first organised show of strength by a banned party deepens a political divide that began with a deadly uprising two years ago. Citizens who lived through the violence of 2024 face the prospect of further street clashes and an unsettled political climate.
The return of a leader sentenced to death has become a flashpoint for violence in Bangladesh. Supporters call the process unfair, while the government calls her a fugitive. Both sides now face a choice between confrontation and a settlement that keeps the country calm.
