Today, May 17, marks the 46th Homecoming Day of former prime minister and Awami League President Sheikh Hasina. She returned to Bangladesh on this day in 1981 after nearly six years in exile with a historic reception.
Following the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh
Mujibur Rahman and his family on August 15, 1975, Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana survived as they were in Germany at the time. In the aftermath, they lived under political asylum for about six years, first in Germany and later in India.
During this period, the Awami League faced organisational disarray and a leadership vacuum. In this context, Sheikh Hasina was elected party president at the Awami League National Council in February 1981. On May 17, 1981, she returned to the country, arriving at Dhaka's Kurmitola Airport at around 4:30pm on an Indian Airlines flight from Delhi via Kolkata. Since then, she has been leading the party for more than four decades.
Under her leadership, the Awami League formed government for the first time in 1996. During the 2007 caretaker government period, she was barred from returning to Bangladesh after receiving medical treatment in the United States. Defying the restriction, she returned home and was later imprisoned in a corruption case amid the political developments surrounding the 1/11 transition. From 2009 onward, she led the country through four consecutive terms until her Awami League government was ousted following the student uprising on August 5, 2024 and she fled to India. Since then, she has been residing in India.
Meanwhile, her party Awami League has been barred to continue its organisational activities and it was not allowed to participate in February 12 parliament election. She and her number of minister and party leaders are now facing multiple cases on charges of corruption and murder.
