Bangladeshi economist and Nobel Peace Prize winner navigating political transitions
Ousted Bangladeshi premier Sheikh Hasina has said she will return to Bangladesh, insisting she must answer to her people. Speaking via videolink from New Delhi on the second anniversary of the 2024 uprising, she has pledged to confront the charges against her while Bangladesh seeks extradition and India says the request is under review. A memorial museum marks the uprising as Dhaka and New Delhi navigate a fragile reengagement.
Several political developments surround Bangladesh’s exiled prime minister Hasina, who has said she will return to Bangladesh amid a death sentence. Attacks on Shakib Al Hasan’s ancestral home in Magura have raised security and diplomatic concerns as Dhaka and New Delhi spar over Hasina’s Delhi appearance.
The BNP-backed Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has won the presidential election with 255 votes to 88 for Oli Ahmed in a 349-seat parliament. The vote follows the resignation of President Shahabuddin and marks a new phase in Bangladesh’s political landscape as Tarique Rahman moves to lead a two-thirds majority government. Hasina remains in exile in India, with a return planned for December.
The trial has advanced in Bangladesh, where journalists Mozammel Babu, Farzana Rupa, and Shyamal Dutta remain jailed after being accused of inciting suppression during a student uprising. Hasina has fled to India and is expected to return; India has refused extradition. The next court date is October 25, 2026.
Bangladesh has recorded more than 187,000 suspected measles infections and about 1,000 suspected deaths since March, despite an emergency campaign that has delivered nearly 20 million vaccine doses. In the United States, Pennsylvania has reported nearly 700 cases this year and four recent measles-related deaths, all among unvaccinated people, as officials investigate and update outbreak counts.
Bangladesh is battling a large measles outbreak with over 1,087 deaths and nearly 187,000 suspected cases since March. Emergency vaccination campaigns have expanded to reach children 6 months to 59 months, while authorities confront immunity gaps from earlier disruptions in routine immunization.
Hasina has announced she is returning to Bangladesh by December; India has declined to hand her over, despite ongoing extradition talks. A Bangladeshi tribunal has sentenced her to death in absentia for crimes against humanity, and rights groups warn of a deteriorating civil environment as her Awami League faces a sweeping crackdown.