Sheikh Hasina Biography Quotes 3 Report mistakes
| 3 Quotes | |
| Known as | Sheikh Hasina Wazed |
| Occup. | Politician |
| From | Bangladesh |
| Born | September 28, 1947 Tungipara, Gopalganj, Bengal Presidency, British India |
| Age | 78 years |
Sheikh Hasina Wazed was born on 28 September 1947 in Tungipara, in what was then East Bengal under Pakistan. She is the eldest daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the principal leader of the Bengali nationalist movement and founding father of independent Bangladesh, and Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib, a central figure in her family life and an often-cited source of personal guidance. Growing up in a household that was both intensely political and closely watched by the authorities, she was immersed early in the ideals that would shape a nation. Her siblings included Sheikh Kamal, Sheikh Jamal, and the youngest, Sheikh Russel, as well as her sister Sheikh Rehana.
Education and Early Political Exposure
Hasina attended schools in Dhaka and later studied at the University of Dhaka, where she was exposed to student politics and the ferment that preceded the 1971 Liberation War. The political climate and her father's leadership brought her into direct contact with activists, intellectuals, and organizers who would later occupy prominent roles in the country's public life.
Assassination of Her Family and Exile
A defining trauma arrived on 15 August 1975, when a group of army officers assassinated Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and most of his family. Sheikh Hasina and her sister Sheikh Rehana survived only because they were abroad at the time. The sisters were soon granted refuge in India, where Hasina spent years in exile, absorbing the experience of statelessness while maintaining contact with the Bangladesh Awami League and those who still believed in her father's vision.
Return and Rise in the Awami League
In 1981, while still abroad, Sheikh Hasina was elected president of the Awami League, signaling the party's bet on her leadership. She returned to Bangladesh that year and quickly became a central figure in opposition to the military rule of Hussain Muhammad Ershad. Throughout the 1980s she faced repeated detentions and house arrests but helped build broad alliances that culminated in the popular uprising of 1990. After Ershad's fall, Bangladesh moved back to parliamentary democracy, and in the 1991 election the Awami League emerged as the main opposition. Hasina served as Leader of the Opposition and, alongside rival Khaleda Zia of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), shaped a contentious but defining two-party era.
First Term as Prime Minister (1996-2001)
Sheikh Hasina became prime minister in 1996 after elections held under a neutral caretaker administration, a system she had strongly supported. Her government concluded a 30-year Ganges water-sharing treaty with India, addressed long-standing grievances in the Chittagong Hill Tracts through a landmark peace accord in 1997, and revived the stalled prosecution of those accused in the 1975 assassination of her father. Severe floods in 1998 tested disaster response capacity. Despite economic and governance challenges, the period is remembered for institutional reforms and efforts to stabilize regional relations.
Opposition Years and the 2004 Attack
Voters returned the BNP to power in 2001. As Leader of the Opposition, Hasina confronted rising political violence and militant activity. On 21 August 2004, she survived a grenade attack on an Awami League rally in Dhaka that killed senior leader Ivy Rahman, the wife of later president Zillur Rahman, and injured many. The attempt on her life hardened her resolve and later became the subject of extensive investigations that reached into militant networks and political circles. By late 2006, a crisis over the caretaker government triggered a state of emergency and a military-backed interim administration; Sheikh Hasina was briefly detained in 2007 on corruption charges she rejected as politically motivated, and was released the following year.
Return to Power and Consolidation (2009 onward)
The Awami League-led Grand Alliance won a sweeping victory in December 2008, bringing Hasina back as prime minister in January 2009. Her government established the International Crimes Tribunal to address atrocities committed during the 1971 war, a move applauded by supporters as overdue justice and criticized by some international groups for procedural shortcomings. Multiple verdicts ensued over the next several years. In early 2010, the long-delayed murder case of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman reached a conclusion with executions of several convicted killers.
Economic and Infrastructure Agenda
Sheikh Hasina prioritized sustained growth, power generation, and connectivity. Her administrations promoted the garment industry, digital services, and rural electrification, while pursuing megaprojects that came to symbolize national ambition. The Padma Bridge, self-financed after the World Bank withdrew financing citing alleged corruption that a Canadian court later said was unproven, opened in 2022 and connected the southwest to the capital. Dhaka's first metro rail line began operations in 2022, and work progressed on the Rooppur nuclear power project. Advisers and ministers such as Sajeeb Wazed, her son and information and communication technology adviser, Abul Maal Abdul Muhith and later AHM Mustafa Kamal in finance, and Obaidul Quader as Awami League general secretary were prominent in championing policy priorities like Digital Bangladesh and large-scale infrastructure.
Justice, Security, and Human Rights Debates
Her tenure also brought stringent security policies amid concerns over militancy, particularly after the 2016 Holey Artisan Bakery attack. Human rights organizations criticized enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and restrictions on free expression, with the Rapid Action Battalion drawing international scrutiny and sanctions from the United States in 2021. The 2018 Digital Security Act heightened global criticism over media freedom, even as the government argued it was combating disinformation and cybercrime. The dilemmas of order, rights, and political competition became central to assessments of her rule.
Regional and International Engagement
Sheikh Hasina worked to improve relations with India, including a 2015 land boundary agreement that resolved decades-old enclave issues, and engaged with successive Indian leaders such as Manmohan Singh and Narendra Modi on security and connectivity. Her governments balanced ties with China and Japan on infrastructure finance and technology and with Russia on energy. She was a prominent advocate for climate resilience, promoting the Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100 and seeking international finance for adaptation. The 2017 Rohingya refugee crisis saw Bangladesh shelter hundreds of thousands fleeing violence in Myanmar, while Dhaka pressed for repatriation with support from the United Nations and partners; relocation to Bhasan Char and the long-term burden of hosting refugees remained contentious policy challenges.
Elections and Political Landscape in the 2010s and 2020s
The political environment hardened over successive elections. The 2014 polls were boycotted by the BNP and yielded an Awami League victory amid low competition. In 2018, the Awami League won another commanding majority, results the opposition disputed. Khaleda Zia faced corruption convictions and prolonged medical concerns, while her son Tarique Rahman directed BNP politics from abroad and was convicted in connection with the 2004 attack. In January 2024, after an opposition boycott and arrests of many BNP activists, Sheikh Hasina was sworn in again as prime minister following elections that international observers viewed through the lens of a constrained political field.
Personal Life and Public Image
Sheikh Hasina married the nuclear scientist M. A. Wazed Miah in 1968; he died in 2009. Their children, Sajeeb Wazed and Saima Wazed, have been public figures in their own right, with Sajeeb focusing on information technology policy and Saima advocating for mental health and neurodevelopmental disabilities, later taking on a senior role with the World Health Organization in the South-East Asia region. Her sister Sheikh Rehana remains a close confidante. Hasina's public persona is marked by resilience shaped by personal loss, a managerial style that prizes continuity and execution, and an acute awareness of security threats.
Legacy
Sheikh Hasina's legacy intertwines nation-building and controversy. Supporters credit her with accelerating economic growth, building long-delayed infrastructure, asserting justice for the crimes of 1971 and 1975, and sheltering refugees during a regional humanitarian crisis. Critics emphasize shrinking space for dissent, the weight of security forces in public life, and the strain on electoral competitiveness. The people around her, from party stalwarts like Zillur Rahman and Obaidul Quader to adversaries like Khaleda Zia and Tarique Rahman, have helped define the arc of modern Bangladeshi politics. As a daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who survived the country's darkest rupture and returned to lead for multiple terms, she remains a central, polarizing, and formative figure in South Asia's political history.
Our collection contains 3 quotes who is written by Sheikh, under the main topics: Justice - Human Rights.
Other people realated to Sheikh: Muhammad Yunus (Economist)