Exiled Awami League leaders are planning to return to the country!

Senior leaders of Bangladesh’s Awami League, currently living in exile and facing charges ranging from crimes against humanity to murder, sedition, and corruption, are attempting to orchestrate a political comeback from abroad. Operating primarily from India’s cities of Kolkata and New Delhi, the now-banned party continues its political maneuvering despite legal prohibitions at home.

More than 16 months ago, former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was forced to flee Bangladesh following a mass uprising against her authoritarian rule. As protesters advanced toward her official residence, she escaped by aircraft to India, leaving behind a country shaken by violence. According to a United Nations report, nearly 1,400 protesters were killed during the government’s final crackdown on demonstrations in July.

Following Hasina’s departure, thousands of Awami League leaders and activists also fled the country. Accused of widespread abuses during the party’s time in power, many faced public outrage and mounting criminal cases. More than 600 Awami League leaders are believed to be hiding in Kolkata alone.

In May last year, Bangladesh’s interim government, under intense public pressure, suspended all activities of the Awami League. The party was banned as investigations and trials against its top leadership proceeded on charges including murder and large-scale corruption. The Awami League has also been barred from contesting or campaigning in the upcoming national election scheduled for February 12.

Meanwhile, the International Crimes Tribunal handed down a death sentence against Sheikh Hasina late last year for crimes against humanity committed during the final phase of her rule. Hasina dismissed the verdict as “false and politically motivated” and has publicly vowed to return to Bangladesh. Party insiders say she is actively working to mobilize supporters to disrupt the upcoming election.

From a heavily guarded undisclosed location in New Delhi, Hasina reportedly spends hours each day holding virtual meetings and phone conversations with party leaders and activists inside Bangladesh. These political activities are taking place under the watch of the Indian government, a long-time ally of Hasina, which has so far ignored Bangladesh’s formal requests for her extradition.

Over the past year, senior Awami League figures—including former ministers and members of parliament—have been summoned from Kolkata to New Delhi for strategic discussions with Hasina. Among them was Saddam Hossain, president of the now-banned student wing, Bangladesh Chhatra League.

Saddam claimed that Hasina maintains constant contact with grassroots leaders and professional groups across Bangladesh to prepare the party for what he described as an “upcoming struggle.” The interim government has designated Chhatra League a “terrorist organization,” and Saddam faces multiple charges of sedition and crimes against humanity, all of which he denies.

“She sometimes spends 15 or 16 hours a day in meetings and phone calls,” Saddam said. “Our leader is very hopeful. We believe Sheikh Hasina will return to Bangladesh like a hero.”

The previous two national elections held under Hasina’s rule were widely criticized for large-scale vote rigging. Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, who heads the interim government, has pledged that February’s election will be the country’s first free and fair vote in more than a decade.

The Awami League, however, argues that excluding the party undermines the democratic legitimacy of the election. The party has accused Yunus of pursuing a personal vendetta against Hasina—an allegation he has denied.

Former minister Jahangir Kabir Nanak said the party has instructed its supporters to boycott the election entirely. Nanak himself faces allegations of crimes against humanity, which he rejects.

Critics of the Awami League, who blame the party for 15 years of authoritarian rule and systemic corruption, have questioned its sudden advocacy for democracy, human rights, transparency, and press freedom.

Numerous reports by international human rights organizations and the United Nations document widespread enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, torture, secret detention facilities, suppression of the media, and the erosion of judicial independence under Hasina’s government. Many detainees were reportedly freed only after she fell from power.

Following her removal, Bangladesh experienced waves of retaliatory violence. The Awami League has claimed that hundreds of its members have since been attacked, killed, detained without bail, or forced into hiding by political rivals.

Source: Guardian