The death sentence of the former Prime Minister Hasina Wajid by a domestic tribunal has significant lessons for the populist regimes in South Asia.
Prelude to a Political Collapse
On the other hand, amilies with longstanding loyalty to the Awami League — particularly the children and grandchildren of those aligned with the party during the 1971 war — continued to benefit from preferential treatment. However, people having diverse political opinions faced technical restrictions while applying for government jobs. In 2023, the unemployment rate in Bangladesh was 4.8%, above the 4.5% average in South and East Asia at that time. Despite the government’s disputed claims of economic progress, ordinary Bangladeshis continued to grapple with mounting financial hardships. This sparked agitation among the youth of the country. The Hasina Wajid government imposed several bans on social media to preempt any anti-government activity in the country. However, these measures backfired as they led to further increasing frustration amongst the Bengali youth.
The Monsoon Revolution and Its Aftermath
The increasing frustration among the youngsters led to massive public demonstrations in Bangladesh in July 2024. Prime Minister Hasina Wajid banned social media platforms throughout the country to limit these demonstrations. However, these demonstrations, led by student leaders, soon converted into anti-government protests in Dhaka. The main demand of these protests was to eliminate the quota system from the country and provide equal opportunities to all citizens regardless of political affiliation. However, the use of brutal power to quash these protests led to the deaths of many protestors, resulting in a further increase in anti-government sentiment in the country. Hundreds of thousands of people joined these student uprisings. However, now the demand was the removal of Hasina Wajid’s government. As per reports, around 1400 protesters died during clashes with security agencies after the latter’s violent operation against student protesters.
This violent crackdown against the protesters sparked domestic and international criticism against the Awami League government. Many human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, urged the government to immediately end this crackdown while criticizing the government for its illegal actions. This led to the ouster of Sheikh Hasina Wajid from her government. Student protesters chose Nobel laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunis to head the interim setup in the country. The interim government initiated a legal case against the former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajid for her brutal crackdown against the participants of the Monsoon revolution. The tribunal has sentenced Sheikh Hasina and the former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan to death. Sheikh Hasina is currently living in India due to her close ties with the Indian state. The interim Bangladeshi Foreign Minister, Md. Touhid Hossain has urged India to immediately hand over Sheikh Hasina and Asaduzzaman Khan. In response, New Delhi stated that it has noted the judgment and will engage with Dhaka constructively.
Lessons for Populist Governments in South Asia
The verdict against Sheikh Hasina Wajid and her ouster from power due to the student uprising have numerous lessons for populist leaders in different South Asian countries. Currently, many South Asian nations are being ruled by populist leaders with dictatorial traits. Rigging in elections has become a common trend in the South Asian region. Governments in many of the South Asian countries lack public support. In addition, their nexus with the deep state has also emboldened these governments to use violent measures to silence their opponents. Several reports of the mysterious disappearance of citizens have also emerged over the years in these countries. All these issues are increasing public frustration against the sitting government. In September 2025, Nepali youth, inspired by Bangladesh’s Monsoon Revolution, also started their protests against the then government, leading to its removal.
Despite these two examples, many South Asian governments are persistently using coercive measures against their citizens and opponents. However, in the age of social media, no government can control their masses through brutal measures. Increasing public frustration in such countries in South Asia could lead to new youth uprisings as well. The governments in these countries need to acknowledge that in the modern era, it is impossible to control or silence the opposing voices for long. Countries that seek to follow a hard state approach also need to realize that political victimization could lead their governments to a similar fate as Sheikh Hasina Wajid’s government. A hard state approach without the establishment of the rule of law would prove disastrous for populist governments in the region.
Taut Bataut is a researcher and writer that publishes on South Asian geopolitics
Follow new articles on our Telegram channel
