Bangladesh’s politics and Sheikh Hasina are, in many ways, two ends of the same historical thread. Born to the nation’s founding father, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and Bangamata Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib, Sheikh Hasina’s life is far more than the political biography of an individual leader. It is, in many respects, an inseparable chapter in the recent history of Bangladesh. Born on 28 September 1947 in Tungipara, Gopalganj, she turns 79 today, having traversed nearly eight decades of a life marked by triumph, tragedy, struggle and extraordinary political turbulence.
After the brutal assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and most members of his family on the fateful night of 15 August 1975, the military and authoritarian rulers of the time sought to erase the legacy, ideals and political influence of Bangabandhu from Bangladesh forever. But Sheikh Hasina, carrying the immeasurable grief of losing almost her entire family, returned to Bangladesh on 17 May 1981 and assumed the leadership of the struggle for the democratic rights of the people.
After years of political struggle, she formed a government in 1996 and sought to chart a new course for the country. Following the repression and political turmoil of the post-2001 period and the political crisis surrounding the 1/11 episode, she returned to Bangladesh after her release from detention in 2008. Years later, amid the profoundly adverse political circumstances of 5 August 2024, she was once again compelled to leave the country. Since then, numerous cases and convictions have been brought against her. Yet none of these developments has succeeded in erasing her political presence from Bangladesh’s public life.
In the years following the assassination of Bangabandhu, Bangladesh endured prolonged periods of socio-economic stagnation. Military rule, political instability and institutional uncertainty repeatedly held the country back. It was Sheikh Hasina who, her supporters argue, helped set that stagnant Bangladesh on a new course of development and dynamism.
From the vision of Digital Bangladesh to Smart Bangladesh, from the Padma Bridge and Dhaka Metro Rail to the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant and the Karnaphuli Tunnel, her governments undertook a series of major infrastructure and development projects that transformed the physical landscape of the country and projected Bangladesh with renewed confidence onto the global stage.
The scale of that visible transformation remains one of the most consequential elements of her political legacy. The infrastructure and development achievements of her years in office will continue to constitute a formidable benchmark for successive governments for years to come.
There have been no shortage of attempts to render Sheikh Hasina politically irrelevant. The 21 August 2004 grenade attack stands among the darkest episodes in that history. She also survived numerous other assassination attempts over the course of her political career. Yet time and again, she emerged from those moments of extreme danger and returned to the political arena with renewed determination.
Her continuing relevance is also evident in Bangladesh’s present political landscape. Even under the current BNP-led government, Sheikh Hasina remains a central figure in political discourse. Her name continues to surface in debates surrounding government policy, political mobilisation, the future of the Awami League and the broader direction of the country. For her supporters, this continuing political resonance is evidence of the enduring influence she has retained in the public imagination.
Repeated efforts to remove Sheikh Hasina from the political narrative and historical memory have not prevented her from returning, again and again, to the centre of Bangladesh’s national conversation. Political circumstances may change; governments may change; the balance of power may shift. Yet, in the continuing debate over Bangladesh’s development, politics and future, Sheikh Hasina remains a name whose relevance cannot simply be wished away.
On her 79th birthday, we wish this veteran political leader good health, peace and a long life.
COMMENTS