Mint Explainer: Where are India-Bangladesh ties headed with Sheikh Hasina's trial?
What is this trial all about?
Exactly a year ago, Hasina fled to Delhi amid a violent student uprising against her government. They were demanding reforms to the government's quota system for government jobs. The main grouse was Bangladesh's post-independence policy of reserving jobs for the descendants of those who had fought for the country's 1971 freedom movement.
Beginning with quotas for freedom fighters, this was expanded incrementally for their children and, finally, their grandchildren. In 2025, when protests flared, this particular quota stood at 30% (there were others for women, minorities, and the disabled).
In 2018, following another students' protest, Hasina annulled quotas for some jobs. But a descendant of a freedom fighter contested it in court. In June 2024, the Bangladesh high court declared the 2018 government notification illegal. Effectively, the high court ruled in favour of quotas. This sparked protests for reforms to the quota policy, which ballooned into a movement to oust Hasina.
How did the government react?
Badly. The so-called July Revolution morphed from a protest for quota reforms to a pro-democracy movement, which essentially meant Hasina's ouster, prompting a government crackdown. As the government shut educational institutions, clashes also flared between anti- and pro-government student organizations. Violent clashes spread from Dhaka to campuses in Chittagong, Rajshahi and other cities.
Amid political turmoil, Hasina fled to India on 5 August, and Nobel laureate economist Muhammad Yunus became the interim government head, with the title of chief adviser, on 8 August. In September, the office of the UN human rights commissioner sent a fact-finding team to the country on Yunus' request.
In a 12 February press release, it said Hasina's government and security and intelligence services, alongside 'violent elements associated with the (ruling) Awami League, systematically engaged in a range of serious human rights violations" during the student-led protests. The team estimated that 1,400 people may have been killed and thousands injured between 15 July and 5 August, the vast majority shot by the security forces.
'The brutal response was a calculated and well-coordinated strategy by the former government to hold on to power in the face of mass opposition," said UN human rights chief Volker Türk.
What are Hasina and her co-accused being tried for?
Hasina is being tried for crimes against humanity, along with Kamal and former inspector general of police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun. While Hasina is in Delhi, Kamal is also abroad. Mamun, meanwhile, is said to have turned approver and remains in Dhaka.
The ICT has already indicted Hasina, Kamal, and Mamun on various charges, including crimes against humanity, murder and torture. Ironically, the tribunal was set up by Hasina herself to try those who sided with Pakistan in Bangladesh's liberation war.
Hasina's Awami League said: 'We condemn in the strongest terms the indictment against our party president and other leaders as we assert that this step marks another testament to the ongoing witch hunt against our party."
There is also a separate corruption case in a Dhaka court against Hasina involving alleged land allocations, news portal bdnews24.com reported on 6 July 2025.
What do the prosecution and Yunus say?
The prosecution says it will present testimonies from individuals injured during the protests and eyewitnesses to the violence. The chief prosecutor has called Hasina 'the nucleus of all crimes".
The prosecutor in his opening remarks on Monday alleged years of misrule, political persecution, among other alleged crimes by Hasina, and went so far as to cite Hitler and Goebbels.
In a statement on the first anniversary of the July Uprising, Yunus said: "August 5 marks an unforgettable chapter in the history of Bangladesh. It was on this very day, one year ago, that the July Uprising reached its triumph, liberating our beloved nation from the grip of long-standing fascist rule."
'July rekindled our hope—a hope for a just, equal, and corruption-free Bangladesh… Together, we will build a Bangladesh where tyranny will never rise again," he added.
What do the defence and Hasina say?
In an open letter issued to the people of Bangladesh on Monday, Hasina described her ouster as the result of a violent coup. 'One year ago today, our great nation witnessed the violent interruption of our hard-fought democracy, as an unelected regime meticulously orchestrated a violent coup. It was a dark moment in our history and an affront to the will of the people," she said.
Mindful of the acts of anti-Hindu violence that have broken out in Bangladesh, she spoke of the need to build religious harmony. 'We must continue to stand for justice, for economic opportunity, for education, for peace, for religious harmony and for a nation where no one lives in fear," she said.
Hasina and Kamal will be represented by a government-appointed defence lawyer.
What are the implications for India?
Ties between New Delhi and Dhaka have hit a low in the aftermath of Hasina's ouster. Hasina's father, the late Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, led the Bangladesh freedom movement in the face of brutal repression by Pakistan. Governments led by the Awami League have traditionally been close to India. Ties with the main opposition, Bangladesh Nationalist Party, or BNP, have been cordial at best.
The Yunus-led administration banned the Awami League in May, which means it will be unable to contest the next general election in Bangladesh. That, in turn, means the likely return of the BNP. India, as the main (often the only) democratic power in South Asia, is used to dealing with political parties of all kinds. However, it is worth noting that the student wings of both the BNP and the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, an Islamist party, were active in the July Uprising against Hasina.
In a general election, Jamaat, which was banned under Hasina, is also expected to do well. India will have to gear up to the possibility of institutionalized Islamist power-creep in its eastern flank—this is the main difference. Bangladesh may have been built on the foundations of secularism, but New Delhi must prepare for a break in that tradition, even if temporary. Dhaka says it has sent requests for Hasina's extradition, but given the atmosphere in Bangladesh, this clearly is not likely to happen.
As seen in the case of beleaguered Sri Lanka, it helps to be on the right side of India.
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