Sheikh Hasina came back from tragedy to lead Bangladesh — until protests forced her to flee

DHAKA, Bangaladesh (AP) — Sheikh Hasina, the longest-serving prime minister in Bangladesh’s history, resigned and fled the country on Monday, bringing a tumultuous end to her 15-year rule as an extraordinary wave of protest succeeded in toppling her government.

Her ouster came after weeks of relentless protests and clashes with security forces that have killed nearly 300 people since mid-July, according to local media reports. What began as peaceful demonstrations by students frustrated with a quota system for government jobs unexpectedly grew into a major uprising against Hasina and her ruling Awami League party.

The recent upheaval was the largest and last crisis for the 76-year-old leader, the world's longest-serving female head of government, who won a fourth consecutive term in January in an election boycotted by the main opposition amid concerns that the polls were not free or fair.

Hasina first became prime minister in 1996, and then returned in 2008 to win the office she held until Monday.

Analysts who have tracked her rise say her political life was driven by tragedy. On Aug. 15, 1975, her father and the first leader of independent Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujib Rahman, was assassinated in a military coup.

That fateful night, while 28-year-old Hasina was in Germany with her younger sister, a group of army officers burst into the family’s Dhaka home and killed her parents, three other siblings and the household staff — 18 people in all.

Some say the brutal act pushed her to consolidate unprecedented power. It was also what motivated her throughout her political career, analysts say.

“Hasina has one very powerful quality as a politician — and that is to weaponize trauma,” Avinash Paliwal, a former university lecturer who specialized in South Asian strategic affairs, said in January ahead of the general election.

To Hasina, her father was the founder of independent Bangladesh after its forces, aided by India, defeated Pakistan in 1971.

After the assassination, Hasina lived for years in exile in India, then made her way back to Bangladesh and took over the Awami League. But the country's military rulers had her in and out of house detention all through the 1980s until, after a general election in 1996, she became prime minister for the first time.

What followed was a decadeslong power struggle between Hasina and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, the chief of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, who's now ailing and under house arrest.

The two women ran the country alternatively for years in a bitter rivalry that polarized Bangladesh politics. Hasina has often accused the BNP of courting hard-line extremists that her party, which calls itself moderate and secular, had worked to stamp out, while Zia’s BNP claims the Awami League is using oppressive tactics to stay in power.

The two traded blame as the recent protests turned violent. The BNP, which backed the student protesters, repeated calls for Hasina to step down while she accused them of stoking the violence.

She said the protests had been overtaken by the BNP and another opposition party that her government banned recently.

After Hasina lost the general election in 2001, she became the leader of the opposition. Political violence, unrest and military interventions marked the years until she was reelected.

Back in power, she fixed her sights on the economy and built infrastructure previously unseen in Bangladesh: a strong electricity grid that reaches far-flung villages and big-ticket projects such as highways, rail lines and ports. The country’s garment industry became one of the world’s most competitive.

The development gains sparked other advances. Girls were educated on par with boys, and an increasing swell of women joined the workforce. Those close to her described Hasina as hands-on and passionate about uplifting women and poor people.

On the international stage, Hasina cultivated ties with powerful countries including both India and China. But the United States and other Western nations expressed concerns over violations of human rights and press freedoms, straining relations. In January, after she won a fourth consecutive term, the U.S. and the United Kingdom said the polls were not credible, free and fair. Previous elections in 2018 and 2014 were also marred by allegations of vote rigging and a boycott by opposition parties.

Her critics for years accused her government of using harsh tools to muzzle dissent, shrink press freedoms and curtail civil society. Rights groups have also cited forced disappearances of critics, which her government denied.

Her government employed the same heavy-handed approach when these protests began, which inflamed tensions even more, analysts said.

The student-led movement also came as Bangladesh underwent an economic churn given the recent global slowdown. Ahead of the January polls, there was labor unrest and dissatisfaction with the government.

But the latest furor highlighted the extent of economic distress in the country, where exports have fallen and foreign exchange reserves are running low. Experts say there’s a lack of quality jobs for young graduates, who increasingly seek the more stable and lucrative government jobs.

“There have been plenty of protests during Awami League’s regime over the last 15 years, but nothing as large, long, and violent as this one,” said Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center. He added that the especially ferocious government response of excessive force and deep pent-up anger at the state as well as growing economic stress led to the escalation.

After 15 years of Hasina's administration, it’s not clear what comes next.

Shortly after she was seen on TV boarding a military helicopter with her sister, the country’s military chief, Gen. Waker-uz-Zaman, said he would seek the president’s guidance on forming an interim government.

He promised that the military would launch an investigation into the deadly crackdown on student-led protests that fueled outrage against the government.

“Keep faith in the military, we will investigate all the killings and punish the responsible,” he said. “I have ordered that no army and police will indulge in any kind of firing.”

“Now, the students’ duty is to stay calm and help us,” he added.

Thousands of protesters celebrated in the capital, waving Bangladeshi flags as the news broke, while others looted her official residence, carrying out furniture and even fish from the kitchens.

It is an “end of a regime that delivered a lot of development but was increasingly authoritarian, as we saw with the mass killings these past weeks,” said Naomi Hossain, a research professor specializing in Bangladesh at the London-based SOAS University.

The country has seen interim governments in the past, Hossain said, adding that for now the hope is that the army will ensure peace.

But there are fears of reprisal violence. “It could get ugly if the army isn’t able to calm people down and defuse the issue. It could be a while before we are out of the woods,” she added.

Pathi reported from New Delhi.

Protesters carry a member of the army on their shoulders as they celebrate Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's resignation, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

Protesters shout slogans as they celebrate Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's resignation, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

Protesters shout slogans as they celebrate Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's resignation, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

Activists take part in a protest march against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government to demand justice for more than 200 people killed in last month's violent demonstrations, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

Protesters shout slogans as they celebrate after getting the news of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's resignation, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

Men run past a shopping center which was set on fire by protesters during a rally against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government demanding justice for the victims killed in the recent countrywide deadly clashes, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

A protester throws a rubber tire on fire during a protest against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

Army personnel stand guard behind a barrier during a curfew imposed following violence during protests against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

People shout slogans as they take part in a protest against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government demanding justice for the victims killed in the recent countrywide deadly clashes, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

A policeman aims his weapon at protesters during a curfew imposed following violence during protests against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

People shout slogans as they take part in a protest against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government demanding justice for the victims killed in the recent countrywide deadly clashes, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)

FILE- Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina delivers a speech during the Paris Peace Forum, in Paris, Thursday, Nov. 11, 2021. Protesters stormed Hasina’s official residence on Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, as leader’s whereabouts are unknown. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, File)

FILE- Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, centre, is flanked by her daughter Saima Wazed Putul, left, and sister Sheikh Rehana as she speaks to the media after casting her vote in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024. Protesters stormed Hasina’s official residence on Monday, Aug. 5, as leader’s whereabouts are unknown. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri, File)

FILE- Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina interacts with journalists in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, Dec. 31, 2018. Protesters stormed Hasina’s official residence on Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, as leader’s whereabouts are unknown. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath, File)

FILE- Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina gestures as she speaks during a press conference in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, Jan. 6, 2014. Hasina resigned on Monday, June 5, 2024, ending 15 years in power as thousands of protesters defied a military curfew and stormed her official residence. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh, File)

Hanukkah, Judaism’s eight-day Festival of Lights, begins this year on Christmas Day, which has only happened four times since 1900.

For some rabbis, the intersection of the two religious holidays provides an auspicious occasion for interfaith engagement.

“This can be a profound opportunity for learning and collaboration and togetherness,” said Rabbi Josh Stanton, a vice president of the Jewish Federations of North America. He oversees interfaith initiatives involving the 146 local and regional Jewish federations that his organization represents.

“The goal is not proselytizing; it's learning deeply from each other,” he said. “It’s others seeing you as you see yourself.”

One example of togetherness: a Chicanukah party hosted Thursday evening by several Jewish organizations in Houston, bringing together members of the city’s Latino and Jewish communities for a “cross cultural holiday celebration." The venue: Houston’s Holocaust museum.

The food on offer was a blend of the two cultures — for example a latke bar featuring guacamole, chili con queso and pico de gallo, as well as applesauce and sour cream. The doughnut-like pastries were sufganiyot — a Hanukkah specialty — and buñuelos, And the mariachi band took a crack at playing the Jewish folk song “Hava Nagila.”

“What really brings us together is our shared values — our faith, our families, our heritage,” said Erica Winsor, public affairs officer for the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston.

Rabbi Peter Tarlow, executive director of the Houston-based Center for Latino-Jewish Relations, said the first Chicanukah event 12 years ago drew 20 people, while this year the crowd numbered about 300, and could have been larger had not attendance been capped. He said the party-goers were a roughly even mix of Latinos — some of them Jews with Latin American origins — and “Anglo” Jews.

“There’s too much hate, too much separation against both Jews and Latinos,” Tarlow said. “This is a way we can come together and show we support each other.”

While Hanukkah is intended as an upbeat, celebratory holiday, rabbis note that it’s taking place this year amid continuing conflicts involving Israeli forces in the Middle East, and apprehension over widespread incidents of antisemitism.

Rabbi Moshe Hauer, executive vice president of the Orthodox Union, acknowledged that many Jews may be feeling anxious heading into Hanukkah this year. But he voiced confidence that most would maintain the key tradition: the lighting of candles on menorah candelabras and displaying where they’re visible through household windows and in public spaces.

“The posture of our community — without stridency, just with determination — is that the menorah should be in our windows, in a place where the public sees it,” Hauer said.

“It is less for us, the Jewish community, than for the world,” he added. “We have to share that light. Putting the menorah in the window is our expression of working to be a light among the nations.”

Hauer concurred with Stanton that this year’s overlap of Hanukkah and Christmas is “an exceptional opportunity to see and experience the diversity of America and the diversity of its communities of faith.”

Rabbi Motti Seligson, public relations director for the Hasidic movement Chabad-Lubavitch, noted that this year marks the 50th anniversary of a milestone in the public lightings of menorahs. It was on Dec. 8, 1974 — as part of an initiative launched by the Lubavitcher leader, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson — that a menorah was lit outside Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, where the Liberty Bell was housed at the time.

"Hanukkah is a celebration of religious liberty, so that it’s not taken for granted,” Seligson said. “One of the ways of doing that is by celebrating it publicly.”

He said Chabad was organizing about 15,000 public menorah lightings this year through its numerous branches around the world.

“There certainly is some apprehension,” Seligson said, referring to concerns about antisemitism and political friction. “Some people question whether Jews will be celebrating as openly as in the past.”

“What I’m hearing is there’s no way that we can’t,” he added. “The only way through these difficult times is by standing stronger and prouder and shining brighter than ever.”

Stanton concurred.

“Through our history, we’ve been through moments that are easy and moments that are hard,” he said. “Safety for us does not come from hiding. It comes from reaching out.”

Why is Hanukkah so late this year? The simple answer is that the Jewish calendar is based on lunar cycles, and is not in sync with the Gregorian calendar which sets Christmas on Dec. 25. Hanukkah always begins on the 25th day of the Jewish month of Kislev, a date which occurs between late November and late December on the Gregorian calendar.

The last time Hanukkah began on Christmas Day was in 2005. But the term “Chrismukkah” — signifying the overlap of the two holidays — had become a popular term before then. The term gained extra currency in 2003, when the character Seth Cohen on the TV drama “The O.C.” embraced the fusion holiday as a tribute to his Jewish father and Protestant mother.

This season, the Hallmark Channel introduced a new Christmas movie called “Leah’s Perfect Gift,” depicting a young Jewish woman who had admired Christmas from a distance, and gets a chance to experience it up close when her boyfriend invites her to spend the holidays with his family. Spoiler alert: All does not go smoothly.

Despite such storylines suggesting a fascination with Christmas among some Jews, Stanton says research by the Jewish Federations reveals a surge in Jews seeking deeper connections to their own traditions and community, as well as a surge in Jews volunteering for charitable activities during the holidays.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Guests listen to speakers during a Chicanukah event at Holocaust Museum Houston on Thursday, December 19, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Annie Mulligan)

Benjamin Warren hugs Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo after she spoke during a Chicanukah event at Holocaust Museum Houston on Thursday, December 19, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Annie Mulligan)

Attendees listen to speakers during a Chicanukah event at Holocaust Museum Houston on Thursday, December 19, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Annie Mulligan)

Dr. Annette Goldberg dances with Sheldon Weisfeld during a Chicanukah mariachi performance at Holocaust Museum Houston on Thursday, December 19, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Annie Mulligan)

Altagracia Vazquez performs with her daughter Ariana, 6, and Mariachi Palmeros during a Chicanukah event at Holocaust Museum Houston on Thursday, December 19, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Annie Mulligan)

Guests add guacamole and pico de gallo to latkes during a Chicanukah event at Holocaust Museum Houston on Thursday, December 19, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Annie Mulligan)

Guests enjoy a performance by Mariachi Palmeros during a Chicanukah event at Holocaust Museum Houston on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Annie Mulligan)

Jacob Monty joins Rabbi Peter Tarlow at the podium during a Chicanukah event at Holocaust Museum Houston on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Annie Mulligan)

Rabbi Peter Tarlow lights a candle on a menorah during a Chicanukah event at Holocaust Museum Houston on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Annie Mulligan)

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo speaks during a Chicanukah event at Holocaust Museum Houston on Thursday, December 19, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Annie Mulligan)