Bangladesh: The Inevitable Return
Article by Mr Mahmud Hassan Ripon
Two years have passed since the August 2024 ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina—an event billed to the global community as a democratic uprising, yet increasingly recognized domestically as a coordinated regime change. The architects of this transition promised the people of Bangladesh a new era of justice and economic prosperity.
Today, in July 2026, the illusion of that transition has shattered. In its wake lies a reality of economic stagnation, institutional collapse, and compromised sovereignty. As the nation grapples with these mounting crises, a growing consensus is emerging: to stabilize the republic, Sheikh Hasina must return.Under Sheikh Hasina’s administration, Bangladesh was widely recognized as an economic miracle.
She transformed a nation historically plagued by poverty into a rapidly developing middle-income powerhouse, self-funding monumental infrastructure projects like the Padma Bridge, the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, and the Dhaka Metro Rail. Today, that economic machinery has stalled. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) recently slashed Bangladesh’s economic growth forecast to a dismal 3.7%, while 9.0% inflation suffocates the working class. The banking sector, strained by unprecedented capital flight and forced mergers, is failing ordinary citizens. The systemic decay is further evidenced by Transparency International Bangladesh’s (TIB) 2026 National Household Survey, which revealed that an astounding 81.6% of households have experienced corruption in public services, with overall corruption surging by 15.1% since 2023.
Beyond infrastructure, Hasina’s legacy was defined by robust social safety nets and unparalleled crisis management. From navigating the COVID-19 pandemic to sheltering the homeless through the Ashrayan Project, her government actively managed public welfare. In stark contrast, the current administration has demonstrated a fatal inability to protect its citizens. When monsoon landslides struck Cox’s Bazar on July 6, 2026, burying a school and claiming the lives of seven children and their teacher, state disaster response was virtually nonexistent. Furthermore, the dismantling of established public healthcare networks has led to a preventable measles outbreak that recently claimed the lives of over 700 children.
Perhaps the most alarming shift in the post-Hasina era is the erosion of Bangladesh’s geopolitical independence. Sheikh Hasina maintained a masterful, non-aligned diplomacy—balancing relations between the West, India, China, and Russia while fiercely guarding strategic assets like Saint Martin’s Island and the Bay of Bengal. In her absence, the current regime has made unprecedented concessions to foreign powers, allowing foreign military and diplomatic displays directly within the restricted grounds of our National Parliament and public spaces.
Domestically, the secular firewall Hasina built has collapsed, and the promise of human rights has devolved into state-sanctioned persecution. High-security prisons have been emptied of convicted militants to appease radical factions, allowing extremism to resurface. Concurrently, the justice system has completely collapsed into an instrument of political terror. According to human rights data from Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), a staggering 61 people died inside prisons during just the first six months of 2026, including 37 undertrial detainees who were presumed innocent under the law. The legal framework has been weaponized, with over 100,000 fabricated cases filed against secular political workers and Awami League supporters. Basic legal rights have vanished; courts routinely deny bail to individuals with no criminal connections simply for harboring sympathies for the Awami League.
Meanwhile, these supporters face daily targeted killings and mob violence without any hope of justice from a politically paralyzed law enforcement apparatus.The people of Bangladesh are awakening to the severe cost of this political shift. The 2024 narrative, heavily driven by coordinated misinformation and deepfakes, is unraveling as citizens watch their economy fail and their sovereignty erode. Sheikh Hasina is not merely a political figure; she is the geopolitical shield of Bangladesh and the inheritor of the secular, democratic spirit of the 1971 Liberation War spearheaded by her father, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Sheikh Hasina has declared her intention to return to Bangladesh by the end of 2026 to face the politically motivated charges against her and stand with her people. The resilient citizens of Bangladesh are preparing to welcome her back. For the sake of regional stability, the restoration of the rule of law, and the defense of our national sovereignty, the architect of modern Bangladesh must return home.Joy Bangla. Joy Bangabandhu. Long live Bangladesh.
