Why Do Bangladeshis Demand Hasina’s Return? – OpEd
Sheikh Hasina’s long stay in India isn’t just about a leader visiting a neighbour. For many in Bangladesh, it feels like a reminder that her hold on power has always been tied to New Delhi’s support. When someone accused of rigging elections and jailing critics suddenly plants herself in India’s capital, it’s hard not to read that as political theatre with a message: her strength comes not just from Dhaka, but from Delhi.
This didn’t come out of nowhere. In 2018, before the election, thousands of BNP supporters were picked up, and Khaleda Zia, her main rival, was effectively sidelined. The vote itself was riddled with fraud claims, yet India wasted no time in congratulating Hasina. To many Bangladeshis, that looked less like diplomacy and more like cover, India giving her legitimacy while opponents were being silenced.
The Guardian’s Hannah Ellis-Petersen described India as Hasina’s greatest ally, which might make sense from a security and trade standpoint for Delhi. But inside Bangladesh, it looked like betrayal. The country that once stood shoulder to shoulder with them in independence now seemed to be shielding an increasingly authoritarian government.
The relationship itself goes way back. Hasina’s governments opened waterways, pushed new trade deals, and deepened security ties with India. Officially, these were steps toward progress, but a lot of people at home saw them as one-sided, tilting too much in India’s favour. As Hasina tightened her grip on power, that sense of India having outsized influence in Dhaka only grew.
The Digital Security Act in 2018 sealed that impression. Supposedly meant to fight cybercrime, it quickly became a tool to shut down journalists, activists, and anyone critical of the government. The UN called it out in 2022 as basically a weapon against dissent. What stung most was India’s silence. By not speaking up, India looked complicit in the repression.
Even her welcome in India told its own story. When Hasina arrived near New Delhi, she wasn’t just met by diplomats. She was received by Ajit Doval, India’s national security chief, the man who oversees RAW. For Bangladeshis already suspicious of RAW meddling in their politics, that wasn’t just ceremony. It felt like confirmation that she was aligning herself with India’s intelligence establishment, not standing as an independent leader.
Right now, trust in her governance is at an all-time low. Years of repression, the erosion of basic freedoms, and the sense that India helped her hold onto power have left people furious. Her staying abroad only sharpens that anger. It’s not just about her absence, but about what her presence in India represents: a leader avoiding accountability, shielded by the very state accused of propping her up.
The demands for her return are simple. People want her back in Bangladesh to answer for the political prisoners, the election fraud, the gagging of the press, and the wider human rights abuses. They also want answers about India’s role. If New Delhi really leaned on other governments to recognize her contested elections or looked away when she crushed opposition, then that needs to come into the open.
Al Jazeera’s Sanja Kapoor pointed out that her greeting in India wasn’t just a diplomatic nicety, it looked like strategy. And for people back home, strategy of this kind usually comes at their expense. The Guardian also made it clear that India now must deal with a new Bangladeshi government that isn’t as willing to play along. That could mean the end of India’s ability to act like Dhaka’s kingmaker, though we’ll see how far that shift really goes.
For now, the message from the streets is clear. Bangladeshis don’t want a leader hiding across the border, especially not in the one country they believe helped enable the very abuses they lived through. They want Sheikh Hasina back on home soil, facing justice, not flying flags of loyalty in someone else’s capital. To them, this isn’t just politics, it’s about reclaiming dignity and demanding that accountability isn’t something you can sidestep by running to a powerful friend.
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