Sheikh Hasina

Varanasi, India – Mohammed Ahmad Ansari has spent his entire life in the narrow and congested lanes of Varanasi, a city often described as the spiritual capital of India, and the constituency of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The 55-year-old has spent decades weaving Banarasi saris and thoroughly enjoys the clacking noises of handlooms at work against the backdrop of temple bells and evening calls of azan in the holy city that is widely believed to be the oldest settlement in India, dating back as early as 1800 BCE and known for the blend of Hindu-Muslim culture.

But of late, sales have taken a hit for a range of reasons, the latest being ongoing tensions between India and its neighbour, Bangladesh.

Diplomatic relations between the once-close allies have been sharply tested since August last year, when former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled to New Delhi from Dhaka after an uprising against her rule.

Bangladesh blames India for some of its troubles, including Modi’s support for Hasina when she was in power.

There have been a few attacks on religious minorities, including Hindus, since her overthrow, as those communities were viewed as Hasina supporters, and Indian businesses, too, have been boycotted or attacked in Bangladesh as the country demands that New Delhi hand over Hasina to face charges in her home country.

In April, Bangladesh restricted the imports of certain items from India, including yarn and rice. On May 17, India retaliated by banning the imports of readymade garments and processed food items from Bangladesh across land borders. While Bangladesh can still send its saris to India, it will have to use the more expensive and time-consuming sea route.

Banarasi saris are globally known for their exquisite craftsmanship, luxurious silk, meticulous zari work of fine gold and silver wire embroidery, and it can often take up to six months to weave a single sari. These can sell for as much as 100,000 rupees ($1,130) each, or more, depending upon the design and the material used.

“These saris are in high demand in Bangladesh during festivals and weddings, but the ban has led to a more than 50 percent drop in business,” Ansari told Al Jazeera.

This is the latest blow to the industry that has already been hit with earlier government policies – including the so-called demonetisation when India overnight invalidated high-value notes and a hike in power tariffs – as well as the COVID-19 pandemic and cheaper competition from saris made on advanced power looms in other parts of the country, particularly Surat in Gujarat in western India.

This onslaught of the past few years has added up, forcing weavers out of the business and halving their numbers to about 200,000 now, as the rest either left the city in search of other jobs or took up new jobs, like driving rickshaws to earn a living.

Pawan Yadav, 61, a wholesale sari trader in Varanasi, told Al Jazeera that the business has come to a standstill since the change of regime in Dhaka.

“We used to supply around 10,000 saris annually to Bangladesh, but everything has come to a halt,” Yadav said, adding that he is still owed 1.5 million rupees ($17,140) by clients in the neighbouring country, “but the recovery seems impossible due to the political turmoil.”

India has 108 documented ways of draping sarees that hold a special position globally for their intricate designs, vibrant colours symbolising timeless elegance and beauty.

Despite the current turmoil, the textile sector employs the second-highest number of people after agriculture in India, with more than 3.5 million people working in it, per government data. Within that, the sari industry is valued at approximately 80,000 crore rupees ($9.01bn), including some $300m in exports.

Varanasi’s weavers and traders, who voted Modi into parliament for the third consecutive time, are waiting for the prime minister to find an amicable solution to the trade issue with Bangladesh.

In 2015, the Modi government designated August 7 as the National Handloom Day and promised to bring a change in the lives of handloom weavers by promoting domestic products. But nothing meaningful has come of that so far, traders and weavers who spoke to Al Jazeera said.

“India has a unique handloom craft which no country can compete with,” but without sufficient businesses or reliable income, many artisans have been forced to abandon the trade, and now “it is difficult to even find a young weaver”, Ramesh Menon, founder of Save the Loom, a social enterprise working for the revival of handloom, said. “The need of the hour is to re-position handloom as a product of luxury, and not poverty.”

West Bengal traders welcome ban

The situation, however, is completely different in West Bengal, around 610km (380 miles) from Varanasi and along the border with Bangladesh.

The ban on the sari trade between the two countries has offered a new lease of life to the traders of cotton saris in Bengal, who had been losing market share to Dhaka’s saris.

Tarak Nath Das, a cotton sari trader for the past four decades in Shantipur in West Bengal, supplies saris woven by local artisans to various showrooms across the country.

After years of losses, the 65-year-old finally saw business boom in the last few weeks in the lead-up to the main festival of Durga Puja, and was all smiles.

“The saris from Bangladesh had devoured at least 30 percent of our market, and the local industry was bleeding. We have slowly started to recapture our old markets as orders have started pouring in. The sale of the saris during the just concluded festival was better by at least 25 percent as compared to last year,” Das told Al Jazeera.

Shantipur is home to more than 100,000 weavers and traders and is regarded as the hub of the sari business in eastern India. The town and surrounding areas in Nadia district are famous for their handloom weaving industry, which produces a fine variety of saris, including the highly popular Shantipur cotton sari.

Nearby areas of Hooghly and Murshidabad district are also famous for their cotton saris, and these are sold both locally and across the country as well as exported to Greece, Turkiye and other countries.

Sanjay Karmakar, 40, a wholesale trader of cotton saris in Nadia district, is also happy with the ban.

“The local women prefer to buy Bangladeshi saris as they come in attractive packaging and the fabric used there is slightly superior to ours,” he said.

That, coupled with younger women choosing leggings, tunics and other modern clothes over traditional saris, had been pinching sales.

Santanu Guha Thakurta, 62, a fashion creator, told Al Jazeera that Indian weavers and traders would benefit immensely from the import restrictions on Bangladesh. That also shut down cheap knockoffs of the more expensive designs.

“The restrictions came at the right time, just before the onset of the festival season and that immensely benefited the industry.”

Dhaka, Bangladesh – Sinthia Mehrin Sokal remembers the blow to her head on July 15 last year when she, along with thousands of fellow students, marched during a protest against a controversial quota system in government jobs in Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka.

The attack by an activist belonging to the student wing of the then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League party left Sokal – a final-year student of criminology at the University of Dhaka – with 10 stitches and temporary memory loss.

A day later, Abu Sayed, another 23-year-old student, was protesting at Begum Rokeya University in the Rangpur district, about 300km (186 miles) north of Dhaka, when he was shot by the police. A video of him, with his arms outstretched and collapsing on the ground moments later, went viral, igniting an unprecedented movement against Hasina, who governed the country with an iron fist for more than 15 years before she was toppled last August.

Students from schools, colleges, universities and madrassas took to the streets, defying a brutal crackdown. Soon, the young protesters were joined by their parents, teachers and other citizens. Opposition parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, lent crucial support, forming an unlikely united front against Hasina’s government.

“Even students in remote areas came out in support. It felt like real change was coming,” Sokal told Al Jazeera.

On August 5, 2024, as tens of thousands of protesters stormed Hasina’s palatial residence and offices in Dhaka, the 77-year-old leader boarded a military helicopter and fled to neighbouring India, her main ally, where she continues to defy a Bangladesh court’s orders to face trial for crimes against humanity and other charges.

By the time Hasina fled, more than 1,400 people had been killed, most when government forces fired on protesters, and thousands of others were wounded, according to the United Nations.

Three days after Hasina fled, the protesters installed an interim government, on August 8, 2024, led by the country’s only Nobel laureate, Muhammad Yunus. In May this year, the interim government banned the Awami League from any political activity until trials over last year’s killings of the protesters concluded. The party’s student wing, the Chhatra League, was banned under anti-terrorism laws in October 2024.

Yet, as Bangladesh marks the first anniversary of the end of Hasina’s government on Tuesday, Sokal said the sense of unity and hope that defined the 2024 uprising has given way to disillusionment and despair.

“They’re selling the revolution,” she said, referring to the various political groups now jostling for power ahead of general elections expected next year.

“The change we fought for remains out of reach,” said added. “The [interim] government no longer owns the uprising.”

‘What was my son’s sacrifice for?’

Yunus, the 85-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner presiding over Bangladesh’s democratic overhaul, faces mounting political pressure, even as his interim government seeks consensus on drafting a new constitution. Rival factions that marched shoulder to shoulder during anti-Hasina protests are now locked in political battles over the way forward for Bangladesh.

On Tuesday, Yunus is expected to unveil a so-called July Proclamation, a document to mark the anniversary of Hasina’s ouster, which will outline the key reforms that his administration argues Bangladesh needs – and a roadmap to achieve that.

But not many are hopeful.

“Our children took to the streets for a just, democratic and sovereign Bangladesh. But that’s not what we’re getting,” said Sanjida Khan Deepti, whose 17-year-old son Anas was shot dead by the police during a peaceful march near Dhaka’s Chankharpul area on August 5, 2024. Witnesses said Anas was unarmed and running for cover when a police bullet struck him in the back. He died on the spot, still clutching a national flag.

“The reforms and justice for the July killings that we had hoped – it’s not duly happening,” the 36-year-old mother told Al Jazeera. “We took to the streets for a better, peaceful and just country. If that doesn’t happen, then what was my son’s sacrifice for?”

Others, however, continue to hold firm in their trust in the interim government.

“No regrets,” said Khokon Chandra Barman, who lost almost his entire face after he was shot by the police in the Narayanganj district.

“I am proud that my sacrifice helped bring down a regime built on discrimination,” he told Al Jazeera.

Barman feels the country is in better hands now under the Yunus-led interim government. “The old evils won’t disappear overnight. But we are hopeful.”

Atikul Gazi agreed. “Yunus sir is capable and trying his best,” Gazi told Al Jazeera on Sunday. “If the political parties fully cooperated with him, things would be even better.”

The 21-year-old TikToker from Dhaka’s Uttara area survived being shot at point-blank range on August 5, 2024, but lost his left arm.

A selfie video of him smiling, despite missing an arm, posted on September 16 last year, went viral, making him a symbol of resilience.

“I’m not afraid… I’m back in the field. One hand may be gone, but my life is ready to be offered anew.”

‘Instability could increase’

Others are less optimistic. “That was a moment of unprecedented unity,” said Mohammad Golam Rabbani, a professor of history at Jahangirnagar University on the outskirts of Dhaka.

Rabbani had recited a poem during a campus protest on July 29, 2024. Speaking at an event last month to commemorate the uprising, he said: “Safeguarding that unity should have been the new government’s first task. But they let it slip.”

The coalition of students, professionals and activists, called Students Against Discrimination, that brought down Hasina’s government, began to fragment even before Yunus took charge.

Hoping to cash in on massive anti-Awami League sentiment, the main opposition BNP has been demanding immediate elections since the uprising. But parties like the National Citizens Party, formed by student leaders of the 2024 protests, and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami want deeper structural reforms before any vote is held.

To reconcile such demands, the Yunus administration formed a National Consensus Commission on February 12 this year. Its mandate is to merge multiple reform agendas outlined by expert panels into a single political blueprint. Any party or coalition that wins the next general election must formally pledge to implement this charter.

But so far, the meetings of the commission have been marked by rifts and dissent, mainly over having a bicameral parliament, adopting proportional representation in both its houses, and reforming the appointment process for key constitutional bodies by curbing the prime minister’s influence to ensure greater neutrality and non-partisanship.

“If the political forces fail to agree on reforms, instability could increase,” warned analyst Rezaul Karim Rony.

But Mubashar Hasan, adjunct fellow at Western Sydney University’s Humanitarian and Development Research Initiative, thinks a political deadlock is “unlikely”, and that most stakeholders seem to be moving towards elections next year.

Hasan, however, remains sceptical of the reforms themselves, calling them a “cosmetic reset”.

“There’ll be some democratic progress, but not a genuine shift,” he told Al Jazeera. He pointed out that the Awami League, which once represented millions, remains banned – a fact that some analysts have pointed out could weaken the credibility of Bangladesh’s electoral democracy. 

Deepti, who lost her teenage son during the protests, said political parties are scrambling for power, and not acting against the people who enabled Hasina’s brutal repression during last year’s protests.

“Most of the officials and law enforcement members involved in the violence are still at large, while political parties are more focused on grabbing power,” she told Al Jazeera.

Sharif Osman Bin Hadi, the spokesman for Inquilab Manch (Revolution Front), a non-partisan cultural organisation inspired by the uprising, warned that elections without justice and reforms would “push the country back into the jaws of fascism”.

His group, with more than 1,000 members in 25 districts, organises poetry readings, exhibitions and street performances to commemorate the 2024 uprising and demand accountability, amid widespread concerns over deteriorating law and order across the country.

‘A city of demonstrations’

While the police remain discredited and are yet to recover from the taint of complicity in perpetuating Hasina’s strong-armed governance, military soldiers are seen patrolling Bangladesh’s streets, armed with special power to arrest, detain and, in extreme cases, even fire on those breaking the law.

In a recent report, rights group Odhikar said at least 72 people were killed and 1,677 others injured in incidents of political violence between April and June this year. The group also documented eight alleged extrajudicial killings during this period involving the police and notorious paramilitary forces like the Rapid Action Battalion.

Other crimes have also surged.

Police recorded 1,587 cases of murder between January and May this year, a 25 percent rise from the same period last year. Robbery nearly doubled to 318, while crimes against women and children topped 9,100. Kidnapping and robbery have also seen a spike.

“Mob justice and targeted killings have surged, many with political links,” Md Ijajul Islam, the executive director of the nonprofit Human Rights Support Society, told Al Jazeera. “Unless political parties rein in their activists, a demoralised police won’t be able to contain it.”

The demoralisation within the police stems mostly from the 2024 uprising itself, when more than 500 police stations were attacked across Bangladesh and law enforcement officials were missing from the streets for more than a week.

“The force had to restart from a morally-broken state,” Ijajul said.

Several police officers Al Jazeera spoke to at the grassroots level pointed to another problem: the collapse of what they called an informal political order in rural areas.

“During the Awami League era, police often worked in tandem with the ruling party leaders, who mediated local disputes,” said a senior police officer at the Roumari police station in the Kurigram district near the border with India.

“That structure is gone. Now multiple factions – from BNP, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and others – are trying to control markets, transport hubs and government tenders,” he said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

In Dhaka, things are no better.

“Every day, managing street protests has become one of our major duties,” Talebur Rahman, a deputy commissioner with the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, told Al Jazeera.

“It feels like Dhaka has become ‘a city of demonstrations’ – people break into government offices, just to make their demands heard,” said Rahman.

Still, Rahman claimed the city’s law and order situation was better than immediately after the 2024 uprising. In a televised interview on July 15, Yunus’s spokesperson, Shafiqul Alam, also claimed that “if you consider overall statistics, things are stabilising”, he told Somoy Television network, referring to law and order in Dhaka.

Alam said that many people who were denied justice for years, including during the uprising, are now coming forward to register cases.

Some agree.

“Things are slowly improving,” said 38-year-old rickshaw-puller Mohammad Shainur in Dhaka’s upscale Bashundhara neighbourhood.

The economy, for one, has shown some positive signs. Bangladesh is the world’s 35th largest economy and the second in South Asia – mainly driven by its thriving garment and agriculture industries.

Foreign reserves climbed from more than $24bn in May 2024, to nearly $32bn by June this year, helped by a crackdown on illicit capital flight, record remittances and new funding from the International Monetary Fund. Inflation, which peaked at 11.7 percent in July 2024, dropped to 8.5 percent by June this year.

But there is also widespread joblessness, with the International Labour Organization saying that nearly 30 percent of Bangladesh’s youth are neither employed nor pursuing education. Moreover, a 20 percent tariff announced by the United States, the largest buyer of Bangladesh’s garments, also threatens the livelihood of 4 million workers employed in the key sector.

Back in Dhaka, Gazi is determined to preserve the memory of 2024’s protests.

“Let the people remember those martyred in the uprising, and those of us who were injured,” he told Al Jazeera. “We want to remain as living symbols of that freedom.”

“I lost one hand, and I have no regrets. I will give my life if needed – this country must be governed well, no matter who holds power.”

Dhaka, Bangladesh — On July 16, 2024, as security forces launched a brutal crackdown on student protesters campaigning against then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s increasingly authoritarian government, Bangladeshi rapper Muhammad Shezan released a song.

Titled Kotha Ko (speak up in Bangla), the song asked: “The country says it’s free, then where’s your roar?”

It was the day that Abu Sayed, a protester, was killed, becoming the face of the campaign to depose Hasina after 15 years in power. Sayed’s death fuelled the public anger that led to intensified protests. And Shezan’s Kotha Ko, along with a song by another rapper, Hannan Hossain Shimul, became anthems for that movement, culminating in Hasina fleeing Bangladesh for India in August.

Fast forward a year, and Shezan recently released another hit rap track. In Huddai Hutashe, he raps about how “thieves” are being garlanded with flowers – a reference, he said, to unqualified individuals seizing important positions in post-Hasina Bangladesh.

As the country marks the anniversary of the uprising against Hasina, protest tools that played a key role in galvanising support against the former leader have become part of mainstream Bangladeshi politics.

Rap, social media memes and graffiti are now also a part of the arsenal of young Bangladeshis looking to hold their new rulers accountable, just as they once helped uproot Hasina.

‘Do less drama, dear’

As mob violence surged in Bangladesh last autumn in the aftermath of Hasina’s ouster, a Facebook meme went viral.

It showed the familiar red and green seal of the Bangladesh government. But instead of the golden map of the nation inside the red circle, it depicted stick-wielding men beating a fallen victim.

The text around the emblem had been tweaked – in Bangla, it no longer read “People’s Republic of Bangladesh Government,” but “Mob’s Republic of Bangladesh Government”.

The satire was biting and pointed, revealing an uncomfortable side of post-Hasina Bangladesh. “It was out of this frustration that I created the illustration, as a critique on the ‘rule of mobs’ and the government’s apparent inaction,” said Imran Hossain, a journalist and activist who created the meme. “Many people shared it on social media, and some even used it as their profile picture as a quiet form of protest.”

After the student-led revolution, the newly appointed interim government under Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus embarked on a sweeping reform agenda – covering the constitution, elections, judiciary and police.

But mob violence emerged as a challenge that the government struggled to contain. This period saw mobs attacking Sufi shrines and Hindu minorities, storming women’s football pitches, and even killing alleged drug dealers – many of these incidents filmed, shared and fiercely debated online.

“After the July uprising, some groups in Bangladesh – many of whom had been oppressed under the previous regime – suddenly found themselves with a lot of power. But instead of using that newfound power responsibly, some began taking the law into their own hands,” Hossain said.

As with rap songs, such memes had also played a vital role in capturing the public mood during the anti-Hasina protests.

After security officials killed hundreds of protesters on July 18 and 19, Sheikh Hasina was seen crying over damage to a metro station allegedly caused by demonstrators. That moment fuelled a wave of memes.

One viral meme said “Natok Kom Koro Prio” (Do less drama, dear), and was viral throughout the latter half of July. It mocked Hasina’s sentimental display – whether over the damaged metro station or her claim to “understand the pain of losing loved ones” after law enforcement agencies had killed hundreds.

Until then, ridiculing Sheikh Hasina had been a “difficult” act, said Punny Kabir, a prominent social media activist known for her witty political memes over the years, and a PhD student at the University of Cologne.

While newspaper cartoonists previously used to lampoon political leaders, that stopped during Hasina’s rule since 2009, which was marked by arrests of critics and forced disappearances, she said.

“To face off an authoritarian regime, it’s [ridiculing] an important and powerful tool to overcome fear and surveillance,” Kabir said. “We made it possible, and it broke the fear.”

‘If you resist, you are Bangladesh’

As fear of Sheikh Hasina faded from social media, more people found their voice – a reflection that soon spread onto the streets. Thousands of walls were covered with paintings, graffiti, and slogans of courage such as “Killer Hasina”, “Stop Genocide” and “Time’s Up Hasina”.

“These artworks played a big role in the protests,” said political analyst and researcher Altaf Parvez. “Slogans like ‘If you are scared, you’re finished; but if you resist, you are Bangladesh’ – one slogan can make all the difference, and that’s exactly what happened.

“People were searching for something courageous. When someone created something that defied fear – creative slogans, graffiti, cartoons – these became sources of inspiration, spreading like wildfire. People found their voice through them,” he added.

That voice did not go silent with Hasina’s departure.

Today, memes targeting various political parties, not just the government, are widespread.

One of Imran’s works uses a Simpsons cartoon to illustrate how sycophants used to eulogise Hasina’s family for its role in Bangladesh’s 1971 liberation war when she was in power. Now, the cartoon points out, loyalists of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)’s leader Khaleda Zia and her son Tarique Rahman are trying to flatter their family for their contribution to the country’s independence movement. Hasina’s father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, led the freedom struggle, while Zia’s husband Ziaur Rahman was a senior army officer who announced the country’s independence on March 27, 1971.

Another meme from a popular Gen-Z Facebook page called WittiGenZ recently highlighted allegations of sexual misconduct by a leader of the National Citizen Party (NCP) – a party formed by Bangladesh’s students.

What comes next for political art in Bangladesh?

Political analysts in Bangladesh believe the tools that contributed to toppling Sheikh Hasina will continue to be relevant in the country’s future.

“Memes and photo cards in Bangladesh essentially do what X does in the West. They provide the most effective short-form political commentary to maximise virality,” said US-based Bangladeshi geopolitical columnist Shafquat Rabbee.

Bangladesh’s central bank unveiled new banknote designs inspired by the graffiti created by students during last July’s monsoon uprising, a nod to the art form’s widespread popularity as a means of political communication.

And rap, Rabbee said, found a natural entry in Bangladeshi politics in 2024. In Bangladesh’s context, back in July 2024, political street fighting became a dominant and fitting instrument of protest against Hasina’s repressive forces, he said.

The artists behind the songs say they never expected their work to echo across Bangladesh.

“I wrote these lyrics myself,” Shezan said, about Kotha Ko. “I didn’t think about how people would respond – we simply acted out of a sense of responsibility to what was happening.”

As with Shezan’s song, fellow rapper Hannan’s Awaaz Utha also went viral online, especially on Facebook, the same day – July 18 – that it was released. “You hit one, 10 more will come back,” a line said. As Hasina found it, they did.

The rappers themselves also joined the protests. Hannan was arrested a week after his song’s release and was only freed after Hasina resigned and fled to India.

But now, said Shezan, rap was there to stay in Bangladesh’s public life, from advertising jingles to lifestyle. “Many people are consciously or subconsciously embracing hip-hop culture,” he said.

“The future of rap is bright.”

Deposed prime minister and others are indicted for crimes against humanity, with trial set for August.

Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) has indicted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and two senior officials over alleged crimes against humanity linked to a deadly crackdown on protesters during last year’s July uprising.

The tribunal, led by Justice Golam Mortuza Mozumder and comprising justices Shafiul Alam Masud and Mohitul Enam Chowdhury, formally charged Hasina on Thursday.

Proceedings will begin on August 3 with opening statements, followed by the first witness testimony.

Hasina, who fled to India following a student-led uprising last August, had been facing several charges. Earlier this month, in a separate ruling, she was sentenced to six months in prison for contempt of court by the ICT. That had marked the first time she had received a formal sentence in any of the cases.

Chief Prosecutor Muhammad Tajul Islam said that the sentence delivered in absentia will take effect if Hasina is arrested or voluntarily returns to Bangladesh.

The two other accused on Thursday are former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah al-Mamun. While al-Mamun appeared before the court and remains in custody, both Hasina and Kamal have fled abroad.

The charges stem from Hasina’s now ousted government’s violent response to mass demonstrations, which critics say resulted in widespread human rights abuses and hundreds of deaths.

Hasina, who now lives in self-imposed exile in India after being deposed following a 15-year rule, has dismissed the tribunal as politically motivated.

Bangladesh’s interim government says the conviction shows commitment to justice.

Bangladesh’s self-exiled former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been sentenced to six months in prison for contempt of court by the country’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT).

The three-member tribunal, headed by Justice Golam Mortuza Mozumder, handed down the verdict in Hasina’s absence on Wednesday. The sentence will take effect upon her arrest or voluntary surrender, Chief Prosecutor Muhammad Tajul Islam told reporters.

Hasina, who fled to India following a student-led uprising last August, faces several charges. This marks the first time she has received a formal sentence in any of the cases.

Shakil Akand Bulbul, a senior figure in the Awami League’s banned student wing, Chhatra League, was also sentenced to two months in the same case.

The contempt charges stem from an audio recording in which Hasina was allegedly heard saying, “There are 227 cases against me, so I now have a licence to kill 227 people.” A government forensic report later confirmed the tape’s authenticity.

The ICT was established in 2010 by Hasina’s own government to prosecute war crimes committed during the country’s 1971 independence war.

It has since been repurposed by the interim government, led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, to pursue allegations of rights violations and corruption under Hasina’s rule.

The tribunal has issued three arrest warrants for Hasina, including charges of crimes against humanity linked to the crackdown on the student-led protests last year, which toppled her government. Her Awami League party remains banned, with ongoing trials against former officials.

Hasina’s supporters insist the cases are politically motivated, describing them as part of a broader effort to silence opposition. However, the caretaker government argues the legal process is necessary to restore public trust in the country’s institutions and ensure accountability.

Fugitive and former Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina has officially been charged with crimes against humanity.

Prosecutors in Dhaka accuse the 77-year-old of orchestrating a “systematic attack” on demonstrators during protests last year that ended her 15-year rule.

Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus has promised to ensure that Hasina and other key figures face justice.

But his caretaker government is facing discord over when it will hold elections.

So will Sheikh Hasina face punishment, and will Bangladeshis forgive Muhammad Yunus if she does not?

Presenter: Mohammed Jamjoom

Guests:

Rumeen Farhana – Assistant secretary for international affairs of the Central Executive Committee, and former Bangladesh Nationalist Party MP

Sreeradha Datta – Professor at OP Jindal Global University

Abbas Faiz – Independent South Asia researcher with a focus on Bangladesh

On the surface, it was a routine closed-door meeting between Bangladesh’s interim leader and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus and the chiefs of the country’s three armed forces, to discuss law and order.

But the May 20 meeting came amid what multiple officials familiar with the internal workings of the government described to Al Jazeera as an intensifying power struggle in Dhaka. Portrayed in both social and mainstream media in Bangladesh as a “cold war” between the armed forces and the interim administration, these tensions now threaten the future of Yunus’s role, nine months after he took charge following the ousting of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the ruling Awami League.

Hasina fled to India in August 2024 amid a mass uprising against her 15-year-long rule, during which she was accused of orchestrating extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances.

We unpack the latest tumult in Bangladesh, and what it means for the country’s fledgling efforts to return to electoral democracy.

Why are tensions mounting between the military and the government?

The Bangladesh Army has remained deployed since July 2024, following the mass protests that led to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s ouster. Their continued presence was necessitated by the collapse of civilian law enforcement during the upheaval, including a nationwide police strike that left many stations abandoned and public order in disarray.

Although the police resumed operations in mid-August, the army’s presence has been maintained as part of a civil-military consensus, because of unrest in the country.

On Wednesday, Bangladesh’s army chief, General Waker-Uz-Zaman, publicly urged that national elections be held by December this year, warning that prolonged deployment of the army for civil duties could compromise the country’s defences.

According to a report by The Daily Star, General Waker told a high-level gathering at Dhaka Cantonment, “Bangladesh needs political stability. This is only possible through an elected government, not by unelected decision-makers.” The comments came during a rare address in which he delivered a 30-minute speech, followed by more than an hour of questions and answers. Officers from across the country and at Bangladeshi UN missions reportedly joined the event, both physically and virtually, in full combat uniform – a show of unity and resolve.

“The army is meant for defending the nation, not for policing … We must return to barracks after elections,” Waker was quoted in The Daily Star as saying.

His remarks indicate a difference of opinion with the Yunus administration’s stated intention of holding elections no earlier than mid-2026, to allow time for political and electoral reforms first, in order to ensure a fair election.

According to local media reports, Waker is also strongly opposed to key initiatives being considered by the interim government. On a proposed humanitarian corridor into Myanmar’s Rakhine State, he reportedly said: “There will be no corridor. The sovereignty of Bangladesh is not negotiable.” He warned that any such move could drag Bangladesh into a dangerous proxy conflict. “Only a political government elected by the people can make such decisions,” he said, according to the paper.

The army chief also voiced concern about making other decisions without an electoral mandate – including the potential foreign management of Chattogram Port, Bangladesh’s main seaport, and the launch of Starlink, Elon Musk’s satellite internet service – which he said could compromise national security. “The army will not allow anyone to compromise our sovereignty,” The Daily Star quoted him as saying.

His remarks came amid widespread speculation – still unaddressed by either the military or the government – that the Yunus administration had attempted to remove General Waker from his post last week. Though unconfirmed, the rumour has dominated public discourse and prompted questions about civil-military relations during the transitional period.

The timing, therefore, of General Waker’s assertive public statement – and its emphasis on constitutional process and national sovereignty – is widely viewed as a signal of growing unease within the military over the interim government’s expanding civilian initiatives, according to analysts.

Are there tensions with political parties as well?

Yes. Since its formation on August 8 last year, the interim government has faced escalating pressure from different sides. While the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) insists that national elections must be held by December, the National Citizen Party (NCP) – a student-led party formed earlier this year – and several other political groups argue that sweeping reforms and the prosecution of former Awami League (AL) leaders for killings resulting from the brutal crackdown on student-led protests last year must precede any election.

Bangladesh’s largest political party, the BNP, has launched a wave of protests over other demands as well, including that its candidate, who lost an allegedly rigged mayoral election in Dhaka on February 1, 2020, under the Awami League regime, be reinstated as mayor.

On Thursday, the BNP held a news conference demanding an election by the end of the year, as well as the resignation of two student advisers and the national security adviser. The party warned that without these steps, continued cooperation with the Yunus-led administration would become untenable.

On Saturday, Yunus is expected to meet with both the BNP and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami (BJI), the largest Islamic political party in Bangladesh.

Is Yunus preparing to resign?

Amid this growing turbulence, speculation has intensified that Yunus may be preparing to resign. Local media began reporting that he had indicated that he intended to step down and address the nation in a televised statement, during a cabinet meeting on Thursday afternoon, following widespread social media chatter.

That evening, Nahid Islam – a student leader from the July uprising against the previous government and now head of the newly formed National Citizen Party (NCP) – met Yunus along with two student advisers to make an appeal for him to stay on.

After the meeting, Nahid confirmed to BBC Bangla that Yunus was seriously considering stepping down.

By Friday evening (13:00 GMT), sources within the interim administration told Al Jazeera that Yunus was still weighing his options.

However, two government sources said Yunus is likely to convene an emergency cabinet meeting on Saturday, during which he is expected to discuss the next course of action. One of the sources confirmed that Yunus’s resignation remains a possibility.

Why might Yunus want to resign?

Yunus is contemplating resigning because of intensifying political pressure, according to local media reports.

Two advisers quoted in the Samakal newspaper said Yunus told cabinet members on Thursday that the political parties and other government institutions had failed to deliver on promises to cooperate with the transitional government to implement state reforms and a peaceful democratic transition since the fall of Hasina’s government last year.

It had become impossible to carry out his responsibilities, he was reported as saying. Pressure is also mounting to hold an election. “The prospect of a fair election in the current situation is slim,” he said. He was concerned any election would be interfered with or rigged and he did not want to have to take responsibility for it.

Later on Thursday evening, Yunus met Information Adviser Mahfuj Alam, Local Government Adviser Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain and NCP convenor Nahid Islam at his official residence, the Jamuna State Guest House in Dhaka.

Speaking to BBC Bangla afterwards, Nahid confirmed Yunus was considering resigning and quoted him as saying he felt “held hostage” by protests and political gridlock.

“I cannot work like this if you, all the political parties, cannot reach a common ground,” Nahid quoted Yunus as saying. He urged the interim leader to “remain strong”, stressing the hopes the public had pinned on him after the July uprising that ousted the Awami League government.

Meanwhile, Yunus’s ambitious reform agenda is reportedly faltering, with analysts noting that key arms of the state – including the police and civil bureaucracy – are increasingly slipping beyond the interim government’s control.

One striking example among many, they say, is a proposal to split the National Board of Revenue (NBR), the country’s authority for tax administration, overseeing the collection of income tax, value-added tax (VAT) and customs duties, into two separate entities – a move that the government says is aimed at enhancing efficiency and the integrity of Bangladesh’s tax system. This has been met with strong resistance from senior officials of the NBR over fears that experienced revenue officers will be sidelined.

What does the BNP want?

Speaking to Al Jazeera, BNP leader Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury said his party does not want Yunus to resign. “Nobody asked for his resignation, and we do not want him to do so,” he stated.

“The people are waiting to cast their vote and bring back democracy. They have been deprived of this for nearly two decades,” said Khasru. “We expect him to go for a free and fair election and peacefully hand over power. That’s how he came in.”

He questioned the delay in setting an election timeline. “What is the wait for? This is something [about which] a very strong conversation is going on in the country.”

Khasru said the BNP wants the administration to move into caretaker mode – with a leaner cabinet and the removal of some controversial figures, particularly those with political ambitions or affiliations. “They have already floated a political party,” he said, referring to the student representatives. “Others made partisan statements. These should go if you’re serious about a credible election.”

He dismissed any contradiction between reforms and elections, saying both could move forward simultaneously. “Where there is consensus, reforms can be completed within weeks.”

Khasru also voiced confidence in the Election Commission and the role of the army in ensuring a fair vote. “This is not the era of Sheikh Hasina,” he remarked, suggesting a more conducive political environment for elections.

On the question of trying former Awami League leaders, he said judicial processes could continue in parallel. “The judiciary must do its job – the elected government will continue if more is needed.”

“BNP suffered the most under the previous regime,” he added. “The trials are a national consensus.”

BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed echoed this sentiment in a TV interview on Friday: “If Yunus is personally unable to carry out his duties, the state will find an alternative.” But he added: “As a globally respected figure, we hope he will understand the situation and announce an election roadmap by December.”

What do other political parties want?

NCP’s Senior Joint Convenor Ariful Islam Adeeb rejected the BNP’s narrative, telling Al Jazeera: “All parties were meant to support the interim government after the July uprising, but the BNP stuck to old tactics based on muscle power – that’s the root of the crisis.”

He urged unity, saying: “BNP and all other parties must come together for the national interest.”

Meanwhile, demonstrations and behind-the-scenes meetings continued across Dhaka. On Thursday evening, top leaders of five political parties, including the NCP, attended an emergency meeting at the headquarters of another Islamic political party, Islami Andolan Bangladesh (IAB), called by its chief Mufti Syed Muhammad Rezaul Karim.

They urged all “anti-fascist forces” to unite, defend national sovereignty, and support a credible election under Yunus after key reforms. Several of these parties, including BJI, argue that elections must come after key reforms – such as adopting a proportional voting system and ensuring accountability for past abuses – to prevent any repeat of past authoritarian practices. They believe holding elections without these changes would undermine public trust and risk another crisis.

BJI chief Shafiqur Rahman joined the IAB meeting via phone and endorsed the resolution. On Thursday, he urged Yunus to convene an all-party dialogue to resolve the crisis.

Then, on Friday night, BJI’s Shafiqur Rahman requested a meeting with Yunus, proposing to convene at 12:00 GMT (6pm local time) on Saturday.

Speaking to Al Jazeera on Friday night, NCP Joint Convenor Sarwar Tushar said: “Whatever the rumours, we believe Dr Muhammad Yunus is committed to his historic responsibility.

“There is massive expectation – both from the international community and the people,” he added.

While acknowledging political divisions, Tushar said: “If everyone moves beyond party agendas and focuses on a national agenda, the crisis can be resolved through dialogue.”

What can we expect next?

Political analyst Rezaul Karim Rony told Al Jazeera that talk of Yunus’s resignation may reflect growing frustration over the lack of unity within the transitional setup. “The unity that had formed around the post-uprising interim government appears to be weakening due to vested interests,” he said. “The resignation talk might be a signal underscoring the need to rebuild that unity.”

Rony suggested that certain government appointments may have alienated political parties, raising questions about whether some actors have agendas beyond the official reform mandate. “This could be one reason why the government is struggling to gain broad political cooperation and function effectively,” he noted.

Rony added: “At this point, advocating for elections may [make the administration] appear politically aligned with the BNP. But in the end, it should be up to the people to decide who they want to lead.”

NCP’s Nahid Islam, however, sees otherwise.

He warned in a Facebook post on Friday night: “There’s a conspiracy to sabotage the democratic transition and stage another 1/11-style arrangement.”

The term “1/11” refers to January 11, 2007, when the military-backed caretaker government took control in Bangladesh amid political chaos and ruled for two years, suspending democratic processes.

“Bangladesh has repeatedly been divided, national unity destroyed, to keep the country weak,” Nahid wrote.

Urging Yunus to stay in office and deliver on promises of reform, justice and voting rights, he said, “Dr Yunus must resolve all political crises while in office.”

He also outlined NCP’s demands: a timely July declaration, elections within the announced timeframe (Yunus has repeatedly promised that the election will be held between December 2025 to July 2026), a July Charter with core reforms before polls, visible justice for the July killings, and a roadmap for a new constitution through simultaneous elections to a Constituent Assembly and legislature.

Meanwhile, public anxiety is rising. On Friday, the Bangladesh Army issued a Facebook alert debunking a fake media release circulated a day earlier, which falsely used the military’s logo in what it described as “an apparent attempt to sow confusion and create rifts” between the armed forces and the public. “Do not believe rumours. Do not be misled,” the statement warned.

As the weekend approaches, all eyes are on Muhammad Yunus – and whether he will resign, stand firm, or forge a new consensus to lead the country through its second transition since last year’s dramatic uprising.