From her exile in India, Bangladesh’s ousted leader Sheikh Hasina has slammed the country’s upcoming election after her party was barred from the polls, remarks that could deepen tensions ahead of the pivotal vote next month.

Hasina, who was sentenced to death for her crackdown on a student uprising in 2024 that killed hundreds of people and led to the toppling of her 15-year rule, warned in an email to The Associated Press last week that without inclusive and free and fair elections, Bangladesh will face prolonged instability.

She also claimed that Bangladesh’s interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus deliberately disenfranchised millions of her supporters by excluding her party — the former ruling Awami League — from the election.

“Each time political participation is denied to a significant portion of the population, it deepens resentment, delegitimises institutions and creates the conditions for future instability,” she wrote.

“A government born of exclusion cannot unite a divided nation,” Hasina added.

A fraught election

More than 127 million people in Bangladesh are eligible to vote in the February 12 election, widely seen as the country’s most consequential in decades and the first since Hasina’s removal from power after the mass uprising.

Mr. Yunus’ interim administration is overseeing the process, with voters also weighing a proposed constitutional referendum on sweeping political reforms. Campaigning started last week, with rallies in the capital, Dhaka, and elsewhere.

Mr. Yunus returned to Bangladesh and took over three days after Hasina fled to India on August 5, 2024, following weeks of violent unrest. He has promised a free and fair election, but critics question whether the process will meet democratic standards and whether it will be genuinely inclusive after the ban on Hasina’s Awami League.

There are also concerns over security and uncertainty surrounding the referendum, which could bring about major changes to the constitution.

Mr. Yunus’ office said in a statement to the AP that security forces will ensure an orderly election and will not allow anyone to influence the outcome through coercion or violence. International observers and human rights groups have been invited to monitor the process, the statement added.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) says some 500 foreign observers, including from the European Union and the Commonwealth, are expected to watch the polls on February 12.

Worries over what’s ahead

Since Hasina’s ouster, Bangladesh has faced a slew of political and security challenges.

Human rights and minority groups have accused the interim authorities of failing to protect civil and political rights. Hasina’s party has alleged arbitrary arrests and deaths in custody of its members, claims that the government has denied.

Critics have also voiced alarm over the growing influence of Islamist groups and attacks on minorities, particularly Hindus.

There are also growing concerns over press freedoms under Mr. Yunus, with several journalists facing criminal charges and the offices of the country’s two leading dailies coming under attack by angry protesters.

Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), led by Tarique Rahman, 60, has emerged as the leading contender in the vote.

Mr. Rahman, the son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia — Hasina’s chief rival who died last month — returned home in December after more than 17 years in self-imposed exile. He has promised to work for the stability of this South Asian nation of 170 million people.

Mr. Rahman’s main rival in the February vote is a coalition of 11 allied groups headed by an Islamist party, the Jamaat-e-Islami.

Under Hasina, Jamaat-e-Islami was under severe pressure and barred from elections. Its top leaders faced executions or prison terms on war crimes charges related to Bangladesh’s independence war against Pakistan 1971.

The BNP boycotted elections in 2014 and 2024. It took part in 2018 but later accused Hasina of rigging the polls.

Hasina says ‘the nation must heal its wounds’

Critics have long accused Hasina of presiding over an increasingly authoritarian system. She also faced criticism over suppression of dissent and of her political opponents, with security agencies under her government facing charges of enforced disappearances.

Still, Hasina has dismissed the Bangladesh court that sentenced her to death in absentia on charges of crimes against humanity over the uprising killings as a “kangaroo court.” International rights groups have raised concerns about the fairness of the trial.

In her email to the AP, Hasina said that to move forward, Bangladesh needs to break the cycle of political bans and boycotts. She contended that under her government, some elections were “not truly participatory because major political parties chose to boycott democratic processes.”

“I recognise this was far from ideal,” she said, adding that Bangladesh’s political parties must now end that cycle. “Otherwise, there will be no redemption.” The country, she added, “needs a legitimate government” that would govern “with the genuine consent of the people.”

“That is the best way for the nation to heal its wounds,” she said.

Published – January 29, 2026 11:35 am IST

A crowd gathers near the premises of the Prothom Alo daily newspaper which was set on fire by angry protesters after news reached the country from Singapore of the death of a prominent activist Sharif Osman Hadi, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025.
| Photo Credit: AP

Security personnel outside the Indian High Commission in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Protests in Bangladesh continued for a third consecutive day on Saturday (December 20, 2025), with demonstrators demanding punishment for the killers of Sharif Osman Hadi, a prominent youth leader of the July 2024 uprising, even as his funeral was held under heavy security in the capital.

Also read | Bangladesh unrest after Sharif Osman Hadi’s death

Political parties and rights groups warned that the continuing unrest, which saw widespread violence and arson attacks, could be exploited to derail the coming elections, scheduled for February 2026. Protesters have also renewed calls for the resignation of Home Affairs Adviser Lt. Gen. (retd.) Md. Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, whom they accuse of failing to ensure the arrest of the perpetrators more than a week after Hadi was shot in Dhaka on December 12.

Tens of thousands from across the country attended Hadi’s funeral prayer at Manik Mia Avenue, near the National Parliament on Saturday (December 20, 2025). The funeral was held amid tight security, with the Dhaka Metropolitan Police deploying a large force along with around 1,000 body-worn cameras to manage the crowd.

Abdullah Al Jaber, secretary of Inqilab Moncha, a socio-cultural group co-founded by Hadi, gave a 24-hours ultimatum for the resignation of the home adviser.

Hadi was buried around 3:48 p.m., after which the mourners moved towards Shahbagh intersection, chanting slogans such as “Inquilab Zindabad” and “Delhi na Dhaka-Dhaka, Dhaka.” Some protesters also called for Shahbagh, where a massive crowd has assembled, to be renamed as “Hadi Chattar.”

Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus, who arrived at the South Plaza of the Jatiya Sangsad (Parliament) before the funeral prayer, said Hadi would “never be forgotten” and would live on through the lessons he left for the nation. “Dear Hadi, you wanted to take part in the election. In expressing your desire to contest, you also taught us how elections should be conducted. Let us all accept that process,” Mr. Yunus said.

Although parts of the country showed signs of returning to normalcy, concerns remained high following the recent attacks on media and cultural institutions. The offices of Prothom Alo and The Daily Star, which were torched on Thursday (December 18, 2025), resumed publication on Saturday (December 20, 2025).

Leaders of Udichi Shilpi Gosthi, a prominent cultural organisation, accused the interim government of failing to prevent an arson attack on its central office despite prior warnings. It alleged that the government had “moved away from the spirit of the July uprising and was appeasing fundamentalist forces.” Udichi said the fire destroyed 55 years of cultural archives, calling it a direct blow to Bangladesh’s progressive cultural movement and part of a broader attack on the spirit of the 1971 Liberation War.

Amnesty International called for a swift, impartial, and independent investigation into Hadi’s killing and subsequent mob violence. In a statement, the organisation condemned the torching of Prothom Alo, The Daily Star, and Chhayanaut, as well as the harassment of New Age editor Nurul Kabir.

Amnesty also expressed grave concern over the killing of Dipu Chandra Das, a Hindu garment worker who was lynched in Mymensingh’s Bhaluka upazila over allegations of blasphemy.

Bangladeshi authorities arrested seven suspects in connection with that case on Saturday (December 20, 2025).

As political unrest continues across the country, political analysts have raised doubts over whether Bangladesh will be able to hold the national election on February 12 as scheduled. Several political leaders have urged vigilance to ensure that the situation is not exploited to derail the electoral process.

BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed warned that “fallen fascist forces and anti-election conspirators” could exploit the killing to delay the polls.

“Some fallen fascist forces and those conspiring against the elections might try to use this incident for political gain. I call on the people of the country to be vigilant so that no conspiracy can be made to delay the elections,” said Mr. Salahuddin on Saturday (December 20, 2025) at Manik Mia Avenue while attending the funeral prayer of Hadi.

Published – December 20, 2025 08:58 pm IST

Dhaka:

A day after the second Hindu monk, Shyam Das Prabhu, was arrested in Bangladesh, two other disciples of arrested spiritual leader Chinmoy Krishna Das have also gone missing in Chattogram, International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) Kolkata spokesperson Radharamn Das claimed on Saturday.

Posting the picture of four Hindu priests, Radharamn Das wrote: “Do they look like terrorists? All of them have been arrested by Bangladeshi police without any reason.”

Do they look like terrorists? All of them have been arrested by Bangladeshi police without any reason. #ISKCON #FreeISKCONMonks pic.twitter.com/q60qzDD0Ct

— Radharamn Das राधारमण दास (@RadharamnDas) December 1, 2024

He also retweeted a post claiming, “After Chinmoy Krishna Das, two more Hindu saints Ranganath Shyamsunder Das Brahmachari and Rudrapati Keshav Das Brahmachari were arrested from Pundarik Dham by Bangladesh Police.”

While there is no official comment on the arrests or detention of Shyam Das Prabhu and two other ISKCON devotees– who had reportedly gone to deliver food to Chinmoy Krishna Das– sources said that they were detained by authorities without warrant.

Sources said ISKCON Bangladesh stopped some priests heading to India amid reports of at least four Hindu priests being in custody.

Attacks On Minorities In Bangladesh

Meanwhile, reports of attacks on Hindus continue to come from Bangladesh. Earlier today, a journalist, Munni Saha, was taken into custody after she was targeted by radical Islamist forces and surrounded by a mob. Saha was accosted and threatened by a group of radicals in the heart of Dhaka at Karwan Bazar on Saturday evening while leaving her office. She was later released, sources said.

Journalists in the South Asian country have also complained about facing issues with hundreds of accreditations being cancelled amid radical targeting of the minority community in Bangladesh.

The Bangladesh government is also targeting ISKCON, with authorities reportedly ordering that freezing for 30 days the bank accounts of 17 people associated with the organisation, including its former member Chinmoy Krishna Das arrested this week on sedition charges.

Another ISKCON center in Bhairav, Bangladesh, has been vandalized. No respite in sight. #SaveBangladeshiHindus pic.twitter.com/ut7CMRb4mn

— Radharamn Das राधारमण दास (@RadharamnDas) November 30, 2024

An ISKCON centre in the Bhairav area of Bangladesh was also vandalized by an angry mob. ISKCON has over 100 centres in Bangladesh, where Hindus comprise approximately 8 per cent of the total 170 million population.

Earlier, three Hindu temples were vandalised by a slogan-shouting mob on Friday in Chattogram, which has witnessed protests and violence since a former ISKCON member Chinmoy Krishna Das was booked.

There are also reports of members of the minority community being attacked by mobs. Sayan Ghosh, a resident of Kolkata, alleges radical elements brutally beat him up during his recent trip to Bangladesh. Mr Ghosh said he was targeted after confirming that he was a Hindu from India. On Saturday night, he returned home through the Gede-Darshan border.

India Concerned

India has conveyed its “serious concern” to Bangladesh over the “increasing incidents of violence” against the minority Hindu community in the neighbouring country. New Delhi has also shared its worry with Dhaka over the “surge in extremist rhetoric”.

The Ministry of External Affairs, in its weekly press briefing, told reporters that India has been in touch with the interim government in Bangladesh on a routine and consistent basis regarding the rising cases of communal incidents targeting the Hindu minority.

There’s also a political consensus and support among parties in India for the Union government to take appropriate action on the matter.

Speaking on the issue, Trinamool Congress National General Secretary, Abhishek Banerjee said, “The images surfacing from Bangladesh are infuriating and make blood boil. I have cleared my stand that you have to follow the Constitution of the country and the state has no role in it. The onus is on the Union government to take it up with the Bangladesh government in the strongest manner or in the language they understand.”

Agartala:

A day after a Kolkata hospital decided not to treat patients from Bangladesh over alleged atrocities against minority Hindus, a multi-specialty healthcare facility in Agartala followed suit on Saturday.

Agartala-based ILS Hospital, which has been a popular destination for patients from the neighbouring country due to its proximity and affordable treatment costs, said the decision was taken over atrocities against Hindus and disrespect to the national flag in Bangladesh.

On Friday, JN Ray Hospital in north Kolkata stopped treating patients from the neighbouring country for the same reasons.

ILS hospital chief operating officer Gautam Hazarika said, “We extend full support to the demand of suspension of treatment to people from Bangladesh at our health facility. Our help desks at Akhaura check post and ILS hospitals have been closed from today onwards.”

Hazarika’s remarks came in response to a group of people who had staged a protest at the hospital, demanding that the facility stop providing medical services to Bangladeshi citizens, citing disrespect towards the Indian flag and growing concerns over the treatment of Hindus in the neighbouring country.

One of the protestors said, “Disrespect to the Indian national flag and attacks on minorities is totally unrespectable. Fundamentalists are imparting training to students on how to disrespect our national flags.”

The protestor added, “We appeal to other institutions to stop providing any services to Bangladesh citizens.” “Seeing the tricolour being insulted, we have decided to stop treating Bangladeshis. India has played an important role in their independence but despite that, we are witnessing anti-India sentiments. We hope other hospitals will support us and take similar steps,” JN Ray Hospital official Subhranshu Bhakt said on Friday. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Pedestrians walk past the ‘Adani House’ corporate building in Gurgaon on November 27, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AFP

India was not informed by the United States government about its investigation into the Adani group, said that Ministry of External Affairs on Friday (November 29, 2024), who confirmed that the Indian Embassy in Washington has thus far not received any legal paperwork on the indictments against top Adani officials accused of a conspiracy to bribe Indian officials. Calling it a legal matter between “private firms and individuals, and the US Department of Justice,” the MEA said it was not involved directly, and that it had not been asked for help in the matter by the US, nor had the government sought evidence of the bribery allegations in order to pursue investigations in India.

The statement from the MEA came even as both houses of parliament were adjourned for a fourth day, with the government refusing to make a statement, and the Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha rejecting adjournment motions for a debate on the issue. 

“This is a legal matter involving private firms and individuals and the U.S. Department of Justice,” said the MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, responding to a question from The Hindu. “We are not part of it in any manner at this point of time.” 

To another question on whether the government had been served with the arrest warrant issued by a court in New York after a grand jury indicted Adani Chairman Gautam Adani and 7 other officials of the company variously on a number of counts ranging from bribery, conspiracy and securities fraud on November 21, the MEA spokesperson said the Embassy in Washington had not been contacted about the case.

“Obviously there are established procedures and legal avenues in such cases which we believe would be followed. The Government of India was not informed in advance on the issue,” he said, adding, “We have not had any conversation on this particular matter with the US government”.

The U.S. Department of Justice is now expected to initiate proceedings for a trial, although it is unclear how far a change in administration in the US in January will affect the process, and whether there will be other avenues such as allowing the Adani group to pay a fine in lieu of further action. Although the alleged bribery of Indian officials took place in India, US agencies have invoked a Bonds issue in the US and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act to justify its case against the group.  India and the US signed a Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters in 2001, which came into force in 2005, which governs any requests for assistance in cases against citizens in each other’s jurisdictions. 

“Any request by a foreign government for service of summons/arrest warrant is part of mutual legal assistance. Such requests are examined on merits. We have not received any request on this case from the US side,” Mr. Jaiswal clarified.

Responding to the US indictments last week, the Adani group had denied any wrongdoing, and said it would pursue legal recourse. It also disclosed that it has thus far suffered losses of US $55 billion since the indictment was made public in terms of market capitalisation across 11 listed companies.

In a statement to news agency AFP, the group said it had already faced “significant repercussions” , including “international project cancellations, financial market impact and sudden examination from strategic partners, investors and the public”, with a specific reference to Kenya where the government cancelled its contracts for infrastructure and energy. Others like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have announced reviews of Adani contracts.

Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS), which signed a peace accord with the Bangladesh government in 1997 to end decades of insurgency, has made a set of demands in wake to recent communal clashes in three hill districts of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), located in close proximity to Tripura. The PCJSS, the apex body of the indigenous people, commonly known as Jummas, has accused Bangladesh government forces and Bengali “settlers” of causing the clashes resulting in loss of lives and destruction of homes and shops.

In a statement released on Thursday (October 3, 2024), the group’s Assistant Media Secretary Sajib Chakma stated that the solution to the crisis lies in the full implementation of the CHT Accord. “There is no alternative to a political and peaceful solution to the CHT crisis without the implementation of the CHT Accord of 1997,” Chakma said.

The clashes on September 19 and 20 in Khagrachari, Dighinala, and Rangamati resulted in the deaths of five people including one Bengali and four tribal men. The statement also claimed that hundreds of Jumma people were injured and over 100 houses and shops, including the CHT Regional Council office, were burned and looted.

The PCJSS has made three demands to the interim government of Bangladesh calling for immediate action to bring justice to the tribal people. These demands include a judicial probe into the communal attacks, proper compensation for the families of those killed and injured and punishment for those involved in the attacks.

Interestingly, the PCJSS earlier refused to join with its rivals, the UPDF and UPDF (Democratic), to issue a joint statement condemning the incidents in the CHT. These groups often engage in violent clashes in an attempt to expand their influence over the hill tracts.

Bangladesh interim government said it will “soon” start re-investigation and fair trial into the 2009 mutiny in the paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) that had killed 74 people, including 57 army officers serving in the force.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Bangladesh interim government on Monday (September 2, 2024) said it will “soon” start re-investigation and fair trial into the 2009 mutiny in the paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) that had killed 74 people, including 57 army officers serving in the force.

Home and Agriculture Affairs Advisor to the interim government Lt Gen (retd.) M Jahangir Alam Chowdhury said that as a citizen and a former member of the military, he was committed to ensuring justice for the tragic event.

“The proper re-investigation and fair trial process into the BDR carnage will start soon,” he told the media after a meeting with Swedish Ambassador to Dhaka Reto Siegfried Renggli at his office here.

Also read: Bangladesh sentences border guards for 2009 mutiny

The mutiny started on February 25-26, 2009, when army officers refused to fulfil the demands made by the BDR jawans. The rebel soldiers staged the revolt at the BDR’s Pilkhana headquarters in Dhaka and it quickly spread to sector headquarters and regional units of the frontier force across the country.

The rebellion saw the paramilitary soldiers turn their guns to their commanders, shooting them from close ranges or hacking and torturing them to death, hiding their bodies in sewers and hurriedly dug graves and captivating and humiliating their frightened family members in barracks. The mutiny left 74 people, including 57 army officers, killed.

Under a massive reconstruction campaign, the government renamed the mutiny-stained BDR as Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) in 2012, changing its logo, uniform, flag and monogram to free the force from the rebellion stigma.

Also read: 824 people charged in 2009 BDR mutiny

Mr. Alam, who previously served as the (BGB) chief, said, “Not only as an adviser but as a former member of the army and a general citizen, I want a just trial of the BDR killings as well”.

His comments came as demands for a re-investigation mounted particularly on social media, though a special three-judge High Court bench in 2017 upheld 139 BDR soldiers’ death penalties after their trial in the lower court.

The lower court had given death sentences to 152 BDR members and two civilians, and life imprisonment to 158 others in the case, which is pending before the apex Appellate Division of the Supreme Court for a review.

The accused were tried on charges like masterminding the mutiny, torturing and killing their officers, looting their belongings or captivating their family members during the two-day rebellion. They also killed eight civilians, eight BDR soldiers, who were opposed to the revolt, and an army soldier apart from the 57 military officers.

Legal experts earlier called it Bangladesh’s biggest-ever criminal trial in which some 800 ex-paramilitary soldiers stood accused of killing 74 people.

The rebel soldiers staged the revolt for what they said was “deprivation”, coinciding with the annual Darbar or meeting of ordinary soldiers with the top brasses. The then BDR chief Maj Gen Shakil Ahmed was the first victim of the rebellion.

The mutiny occurred weeks after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government came into power in the December 2008 elections. In 2012, Bangladesh concluded another phase of the trial of the rebellion with 11 paramilitary courts sentencing 6,011 rebel soldiers of 57 units to jail terms of up to seven years under the relatively lenient BDR Act.

Two new murder cases have been filed against Bangladesh’s deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
| Photo Credit: AFP

Two new murder cases have been filed against Bangladesh’s deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her former Cabinet ministers for the killing of three persons, including two BNP activists, during the quota reform protests in the country, according to media reports.

The cases, filed in Dhaka courts on Friday (August 30, 2024) were the latest in the slew of cases filed against the 76-year-old leader after her resignation and fleeing to India on August 5 following a massive protest by students against a quota system in government jobs.

With this, the tally of cases filed against Ms. Hasina has risen to 84, including 70 on murder charges, eight on allegations of crimes against humanity and genocide, three for alleged abduction, and three on other charges, The Daily Star newspaper reported.

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) activist Matiur Rahman filed the case in Kishoreganj over the killings of fellow party workers Zulkar Hossain, 38, and Anjana, 28, on August 4.

According to the case statement, a procession of the student movement and BNP activists were attacked by Awami League leaders with firearms, batons and sharp weapons. Some BNP workers took shelter in the house of a district Awami League leader in the nearby Khormaptri area, where they were confined by activists of the Hasina-led party and then set on fire, killing Hossain and Anjana.

As many as 88 people, including Ms. Hasina, former road transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader, were named as accused in the case.

In Munshiganj, a case was filed over the death of a 22-year-old man, who was shot dead during the student-led movement in the town’s Supermarket area on August 4.

As many as 313 people, including Ms. Hasina, Quader, other Awami League leaders, and activists of its student wing, Chhatra League, were accused in the case.

“No one has been arrested in this case yet,” the report quoted Thander Khairul Hasan, additional superintendent of police at Munshiganj Sadar Circle, as saying.

Separately in Gazipur, 57 people, including Ms. Hasina, were accused in a case over the loss of eyesight of an 18-year-old college student. The victim was shot in the right eye during an attack on protesters at the orders of Hasina and others, according to the court document.

Over 230 people were killed in Bangladesh in the incidents of violence that erupted across the country following the fall of the Hasina government, taking the death toll to more than 600 since the massive protest by students against a controversial quota system in government jobs first started in mid-July.

The Hasina-led government was replaced by an interim government, and 84-year-old Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus was named its Chief Adviser.