It was August 15, 1975. Most of Dhaka was still waking up but suddenly the sound of bullets rang across the city. They came from here. Dhanmondi 32, the personal residence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. He was then President of Bangladesh. Pretty soon the picture was clear. Mujib's army had turned on him. A military takeover was underway. A group of young officers attacked the President's house. He was surrounded by guns. Mujib and his family locked themselves inside one of the rooms. Once the firing ended, he stepped out. Immediately the officers caught hold of him. Mujib kept asking them, What do you want? Where are you taking me? But Sheikh Mujib was not being kidnapped. The officers had planned something worse.
One of them sprayed bullets on the President. Around 18 bullets struck him. The founder of Bangladesh collapsed in a pool of blood. Most of his family was killed that night. Just two members survived. His two daughters, Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rihanna. Sheikh Hasina was hundreds of miles away in Germany. Bangladesh's ambassador broke the news to her. It was hard to process. She couldn't believe her father. The legendary Bangabandhu was not alive anymore. What's more, Bengali assassins had killed him. From that moment, Sheikh Hasina's life changed. She would live in exile. She would make a brave comeback. She would be jailed. But today she's the tallest leader in Bangladesh.
Controversial, but popular. And she stands on the brink of yet another term as Prime Minister. So how did Sheikh Hasina resurrect her family legacy? How did she rebuild from the tragedy of August 15th? Time for a flashback. Sheikh Hasina was born in 1947. Back then, there was no Bangladesh. It was East Pakistan. She was born in a place called Gopalganj near Dhaka. She was the eldest of five children. By now her father was an established politician. It had a downside though. Sheikh Mujib was in jail a lot. The children saw very little of him. Once a friend asked Hasina, how do you address your father? What do you call him? The young Hasina had no answer.
She realized that she hardly had the chance. Sheikh Mujib was in jail from 1949 to 1952. Even afterwards, the government always targeted him. Like in 1954, another arrest. Then in 1958, another one. And these experiences shaped Hasina's politics. From a young age, she rejected Pakistan. In school, her class had a subject called social knowledge. One chapter was about Ayub Khan, Pakistan's military dictator. When the exam came, Hasina ditched her textbook. She wrote what her father had told her about Pakistani dictators. The teacher failed her. In a later exam, she skipped all questions on Pakistan. She lost some 20 marks. But Hasina says it was about principle. And this continued in college. She emerged as a popular student leader in college.
First as vice president of the union at Eden College. Then as union member of Dhaka University. In between, she also got married to a nuclear scientist named M. A. Vazid Mian. By now, the Bangladesh movement had gathered strength. A mass uprising was organized in 1969. Hasina also took part in it. During this time, she also had another important job. That of a liaison. Sheikh Mujib had been imprisoned by Pakistan. So Hasina was his contact with the outside world. We all know what happened next. The 1971 liberation war. With the help of India, West Pakistan's army was defeated. And a new country was born, the country of Bangladesh. Hasina also became a mother during this tumultuous time.
Her son was born in 1971. Her daughter was born the next year. So things were going well. Her father was president. The country was slowly being built. That's when Hasina decided to join her husband in Germany. It was July 1975. The whole family came to see her off. Her father, her mother, her brothers, her sisters-in-law. It was the last time she would see them. Months later, the coup happened. Her entire family was massacred. Within days, Sheikh Hasina came to New Delhi. She met with India's Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The Prime Minister offered to help her. Hasina was given a house with full security. She and her family took new names.
They lived in secrecy and security. Back in Dhaka, big changes were happening. Military leader Zia-ur-Rahman had taken charge. He was ruling with an iron fist. So returning home was impossible for Sheikh Hasina. She kept fighting. She gave speeches abroad against the military leader. She tried rallying for global support. Eventually things improved in Dhaka. In 1981, she was elected President of her father's party, the Awami League. Hasina was not back in Bangladesh then. She was elected in absentia. The people were on her side. So that year, she decided it was time to return. It was a massive homecoming. Thousands of people welcomed Sheikh Hasina. The streets were lined from the airport to her home.
The game was on. Hasina brought 15 parties together. She protested against the military regime. A key moment was in 1983. The army entered the Dhaka University campus. They fired bullets at students. The next day, Hasina joined a protest in Dhaka. The army arrested her. She was blindfolded and taken into custody. This became routine in the 1980s. Hasina was repeatedly put under house arrest by the army. Each time, public pressure forced her release. Then came 1986. Elections were held under dictator Irshad. Hasina decided to take part. Her party won more than 100 seats. She became leader of the opposition.
It was not smooth sailing though. Parliament's under dictators are like rubber stamps. Hasina realized that soon enough. In 1987, she called for new elections. In response, Irshad dissolved the parliament. This time, the military was out for vengeance. Once they attempted to lift Hasina's car with a crane and if you're wondering, yes, she was inside the same car. Thankfully, the people intervened. So she slipped out. In 1988, there was another near miss. Hasina was addressing a rally in Chittagong. The police opened fires and 80 people died, 8-0. But Chekhasina escaped. Many such attempts would come. In total, she is said to have survived 19 assassination attempts. But her work paid off. In 1990, she proposed a constitutional formula to Irshad.
Sort of like an ultimatum. He agreed and stepped down. If this were a movie, elections would be held and Hasina would win. But it wasn't. One more twist was in store for her. Chekhasina did not win the 1991 elections. They won by Khalidah Zia. Her arch nemesis. Zia led the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. She was the widow of Zia O'Rehman. So Hasina had to wait. She rallied farmers and workers. She united other parties in the opposition. And she put pressure on Khalidah Zia. In 1996 elections were held again. This time under a neutral caretaker government. For the first time, Hasina tasted electoral success.
She became Prime Minister of Bangladesh. Her first term had some highs. Like signing the Ganges Water Treaty with India. And ending the insurgency in the Chittagong Hills. She also had bold welfare schemes. Like making homes for farmers. Or giving allowances to widows and specially abled. But the people thought differently. In the 2001 election, Chekhasina was defeated. And quite badly at that. Khalidah Zia's party, the BNP, won a two-thirds majority. Hasina herself lost one of her three seats. So what did she do? What leaders do after a bad defeat? She blamed the system. She accused the caretaker government of helping the BNP. But whatever the reason, she lost the election.
Hasina was now in opposition. And in Bangladesh, that's not a good place to be. Awami League meetings and leaders were targeted. Even former ministers were killed. It was a sign of things to come. In 2006, the BNP government's term was up. It was time for another election. Just one problem though. Hasina and Zia could not agree on the caretaker government. There were protests. And counter-protests. And in the end, an emergency was declared. In 2007, Hasina travelled to the US. While there, she was charged with corruption and extortion. And then she was barred from returning. The caretakers said Hasina's return would cause disorder. She refused to listen.
Her party fought the cases in court. And around 50 days later, the entry ban was lifted. So once again, Sheikh Hasina had a homecoming. Very similar to the 1980s. Massive crowds welcomed her at the airport. And just like the 80s, she was soon arrested. The corruption charges emerged again. So Hasina was placed under house arrest. She would be released in 2008 before the elections. And that's where the story ends. Because after 2008, it's been one-way traffic. Hasina's party won that election. She won again in 2014 and then again in 2019. And she will win again in 2024. And the opposition? They boycotted some of the elections. And the others, they lost.
Each time they have alleged unfair practices. So looking back, what is Sheikh Hasina's legacy? Well, her story is not over yet. She is 76 years old, but going strong. And like every leader, she has done good and bad. We can think of three good things. One is the economy. Bangladesh is now a rising Asian giant. It's among the biggest government exporters in the world. So living standards have improved. Two, she's kept the military out. It's harder than you think. Just look at the situation in Pakistan. Once the generals taste power, it's hard to keep them in the barracks. But Hasina has done that. She's kept Dhaka in civil enhance. Three, she's also kept radicalism in check.
That is why Bangladesh's minorities still vote for Sheikh Hasina. She learned her core values from her father, like secularism. Now we come to the not so good parts. You can't have elections without opposition parties. That sort of defeats the point of an election. Some 10,000 opposition workers are in jail. All of them cannot be radicals, which brings us to Sheikh Hasina's biggest failure. And it's a shared one. The inability to create a peaceful polity. If you're in opposition, it's game over for you. That's the rule in Bangladesh. When Hasina was in opposition, she was targeted. Now that Khaledah Ziya is in opposition, she's under house arrest. It's a cycle of persecution. As a result, nobody wants to give up power. Because if they do, they know what's in store. I'm afraid democracies cannot function like that.
You can criticize opposition leaders, but you cannot treat them as your mortal enemy. That's what Sheikh Hasina fought for. In the 70s, 80s and 90s, she was the rebel who wanted democracy. The people have given it to her. The question is, what will she give them in return?
