Sheikh Hasina’s 15-Year Dictatorship: The Politics of Racialization in Bangladesh
The Sheikh Hasina-led government crafted mythical narratives to suppress opposition and tighten control, using both consent and coercion to establish ideological dominance in Bangladesh.
এই নিবন্ধে যুক্তি প্রদান করা হয়েছে যে সাবেক প্রধানমন্ত্রী শেখ হাসিনা এবং তার দল কল্পিত বয়ান তৈরি করে বিরোধী দলের ওপর দমন-পীড়ন চালিয়েছিল। মূল লক্ষ্য ছিল নিজেদের ক্ষমতাকে আরও সুদৃঢ় করা। ক্ষমতাকে ধরে রাখতে তারা সম্মতি আদায় ও বল প্রয়োগ উভয় কৌশলের সমন্বয়ে একটা মতাদর্শিক আধিপত্য তৈরি করে।
Over the past 15 years, Sheikh Hasina's authoritarian regime has transformed Bangladesh into a deeply polarized society. In other words, a racial society. The regime treated the general populace, including opposition parties and activists, as second-class citizens. Sheikh Hasina and her party Awami League strategically crafted mythical narratives, invoking the rhetoric of the 1971 Liberation War and the legacy of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, to suppress dissent and consolidate power.
The regime propagated an "us” versus “them" narrative, branding those aligned with the Awami League’s (AL) ideology or Mujibism—the political philosophy of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman—as true patriots. Conversely, anyone who defied or disagreed with their political doctrine was labeled as a “traitor,” “enemy,” “rajakar,” or “intruder.” Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India during a mass student uprising, employed every possible mechanism to construct a state rife with division and intolerance.
In this brief essay, I interrogate how Sheikh Hasina, once referred to as the so-called "Iron Lady," became widely recognized as a fascist and autocratic ruler among the majority of the population after August 5, 2024, advanced the process of racialization of Bangladesh. In the past, racism was understood as discrimination based on distinct physical markers between different groups. However, contemporary scholars have redefined racism as an ideology tied to historical power relations. One of the defining features of racism is its ability to create a society of discrimination, which denies access to material resources at one extreme to perpetrating genocide at the other (Garner & Selod, 2015). Racialization is a process of racism.
The Bangladesh Awami League, led by Sheikh Hasina, secured a landslide victory in the 2008 election, largely on promises to provide jobs for every family. However, in practice, government employment was largely restricted to members of her party’s student wing, the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL). These jobs were awarded following extensive background checks to ensure the applicants' loyalty and affiliation with the BCL, highlighting the exclusionary practices of her regime. General students who did not have any political affiliation hardly received any government jobs.
The discriminatory quota system was the first step toward creating a racialized society in Bangladesh. Introduced in 1972 by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, one of the country's founding fathers, the system allocated 56 percent of first and second-class government jobs to specific communities. These included 30 percent for the children and grandchildren of freedom fighters from the 1971 liberation war, 10 percent for women, 10 percent for district quotas (Zila), and 5 percent for ethnic minorities. While the remaining 44 percent of jobs were merit-based, those positions were largely filled by BCL activists or individuals affiliated with the ruling regime. Ordinary citizens, and individuals who were connected to opposition political parties, particularly Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami, had little to no opportunity to secure government jobs. This system sparked widespread resentment among young adults and students, leading to the anti-quota movement, which eventually contributed to the fall of the regime. Hasina’s continued practice of this discriminatory ideology reinforced a process of systematic exclusion. This process enabled the dominant group to marginalize subordinates by creating social and economic inequalities, restricting access to resources and opportunities for those outside the ruling party’s influence.
Sheikh Hasina’s authoritarian regime has consistently propagated the narrative that there is no alternative to her leadership in the country. Whenever anyone sought to change or questioned the regime, Hasina and members of the AL responded by asking, "Who is the alternative?" This implied that only Hasina could lead the nation. During the July uprising in 2024, which eventually forced Hasina to flee to India, one of the protest slogans was "Who is the alternative… you and I are the alternative." This slogan highlighted the growing resentment and anger of the younger generation towards the regime.
Under Hasina’s rule, a culture of fear and intimidation had been cultivated, silencing opposition voices. In the 2015, 2019, and 2024 national elections, Hasina’s AL secured victory, while opposition parties, particularly the BNP and Jamaat, boycotted the elections, citing concerns that they would not be free and fair under Hasina’s government. Additionally, Awami League, Jubo League, and Chatro Leauge activists obstructed opposition voters from accessing polling centers to cast their ballots. The regime also created an atmosphere of fear and chaos before the elections, preventing opposition candidates from campaigning. Through these tactics, the Hasina regime effectively disenfranchised citizens, stripping them of their democratic and fundamental right to vote. Political “disenfranchisement and disempowerment through methods like voter suppression and gerrymandering are significant manifestations of systemic racism.”
Sheikh Hasina has defended her atrocities, misrule, and harsh treatment of political opponents by invoking the rhetoric of the liberation war. She frequently asserts, "This is my father’s country; he liberated this country," implying that anyone who does not adhere to AL’s ideology has no place in the nation. During her time in power, Hasina repeatedly dehumanized and mocked the main opposition leader, Khaleda Zia, a former three-time Prime Minister and Chairperson of BNP. On one occasion, Hasina ridiculed Mrs Zia by saying, "She is now over eighty years old. Every day, I hear that she is about to die. Her time has come. She is sick. There is no benefit in crying so much." Such degrading remarks from Hasina were common throughout her rule. Additionally, the head of the interim government of Bangladesh, Nobel laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus, who took power after the fall of Hasina, a critic of just bygone regime, raised concerns over allegations of embezzlement related to the construction of the Padma Bridge. In response, Hasina reportedly told Dr. Yunus:
He [Yunus] blocked the funds for Padma bridge merely for the post of MD [Managing Director]. He should be plunged into the Padma River twice. He should just be plunged in a bit and then pulled up so that he does not die, and then pulled up onto the bridge. That perhaps will teach him a lesson. [Yunus] stopped the funding for Padma bridge. Why? So he could hold onto the post of Grameen Bank MD.
Hasina frequently labeled the BNP and Jamaat as anti-Bangladeshi and pro-Pakistani. Hasina labeled BNP as a terrorist organization and accused its leaders of not supporting the ideals of the freedom struggle. Hasina claimed that "love for Pakistan" still resides in the hearts of BNP leaders and suggested that they should be sent to Pakistan. Hasina also tagged Jamaat politics as “politics of terrors”, and they have no right to continue political activities in Bangladesh.
Embezzlement, corruption, and money laundering were widespread during Sheikh Hasina’s regime. According to an Al Jazeera report, Hasina is directly linked to the Dhaka Mafia family. An investigation by Al Jazeera (2021) uncovered strong connections between Bangladesh’s Prime Minister and a criminal family led by General Aziz Ahmed, the head of the Bangladesh Army. Mr. Ahmed exploited his position and the country's security forces to extort bribes in exchange for state contracts and job placements. The investigation, titled "All the Prime Minister’s Men,"provided undercover footage and documents exposing the deep-rooted high-level corruption in Bangladesh, extending all the way to Hasina”. Additionally, Sheikh Hasina’s former peon, Jahangir Alam, who had accumulated Tk 400 crore (approximately 33 million USD), fled to the United States amid allegations of corruption.
Sheikh Hasina and her party activists, with the support of state machinery, have been accused of ruthlessly suppressing opposition views. On numerous occasions, critics of her regime were reportedly targeted and, in some cases, brutally killed by members of the BCL law enforcement agencies. On October 6, 2019, Abrar Fahad, a student at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), was brutally killed by activists of the BCL. They accused him of being associated with Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir, the student wing of the Islamic organization Jamaat. Abrar had criticized the Hasina government’s water-sharing agreement with India in a Facebook post. Following this, BCL members interrogated and tortured him for hours, ultimately resulting in his death.
On December 9, 2012, BCL activists hacked to death Biswajit Das, a Hindu young-adult who was an employee of a tailor shop. The then 18-party alliance led by the BNP called a nationwide road blockade program and, on that morning, Biswajit was on his way to work when BCL activists of Jagannath University attacked him with iron bars, machetes, and hockey sticks and brutally killed Biswajit assuming that was a member of Jamaat-Shibir. The current interim government led by Dr. Muhammad Younus banned the BCL labeling it as a terrorist organization because of their “involvement in the killings and destructive and terrorist activities, both directly and through incitement, during the July revolution. These two examples of killing by the terrorist organization BCL illustrate their treatment of individuals who belong to other political parties.
The fallen Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League party assumed power in 2008 and has since systematically undermined Bangladesh’s legal, judicial, political, and administrative systems. Additionally, Sheikh Hasina effectively neutralized civil society, rendering it irrelevant in public life. Her regime exemplifies a hegemonic administration, characterized by the consolidation of power through both consent and coercion. Using a combination of these methods, Hasina suppressed the masses as well as opposition leaders and activists. Under her rule, hundreds of opposition figures were killed, and forcefully disappeared, thousands of political and non-political individuals were imprisoned.
Racism is a hegemonic ideology, and Hasina’s 15-year regime in Bangladesh has fostered a similar ideological hegemony. She and her party promoted the narrative of "Mujib’s Bangladesh," which erased the contributions of those who played crucial roles during the war of independence in 1971. Hasina's regime sought to implant in the public consciousness the idea that all achievements were the result of her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, disregarding the collective efforts of others involved in the country's liberation.
About Author:
Didarul Islam Manik, PhD, is a full-time faculty of Communication at Central New Mexico Community College, Albuquerque, USA. He was a former journalist in Bangladesh. His scholarship focuses on media representation of ethnic, racial, and religious minorities, racialization, media and politics, political communication and digital social media. He can be reached at didar.manik@gmail.com
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the authors' own and do not necessarily reflect The Insighta's editorial stance. However, any errors in the stated facts or figures may be corrected if supported by verifiable evidence.
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