https://www.scmp.com/rss/524709/feed The latest news and top stories on the Awami League. A Bangladesh-based political party, the Awami League is dedicated to achieving provincial autonomy, promoting secularism democracy and an exploitation-free society. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Maria Siow Maria Siow India’s agreement to review Dhaka’s request for Sheikh Hasina’s extradition could hint at more flexibility over a deeply political issue, but observers warn that does not mean New Delhi is ready to hand the former Bangladesh ruler over just yet. The ex-prime minister fled to India in August 2024 after her regime fell to protesters. India’s Ministry of External Affairs confirmed on April 17 it was conducting a formal review of Dhaka’s extradition request. The announcement – a significant shift... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3351243/india-opens-door-sheikh-hasina-extradition-talks-delhi-dhaka-thaw?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3351243/india-opens-door-sheikh-hasina-extradition-talks-delhi-dhaka-thaw?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 24 Apr 2026 03:46:34 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Bangladesh’s prime minister-in-waiting Tarique Rahman on Saturday dedicated his landslide election win to those who “sacrificed for democracy”, calling for unity after the first polls since a deadly 2024 uprising. Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Rahman, 60, the scion of one of the most powerful political dynasties, is set to lead the South Asian nation of 170 million people after sweeping elections on Thursday. “This victory belongs to Bangladesh, belongs to democracy,” he said, in his... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3343587/bangladesh-pm-be-celebrates-landslide-win-thanks-protesters?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3343587/bangladesh-pm-be-celebrates-landslide-win-thanks-protesters?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Feb 2026 11:21:29 +0000 Biman Mukherji Biman Mukherji The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is poised to recalibrate Dhaka’s ties with India, Pakistan and China, while also addressing US concerns over Beijing’s growing influence in South Asia, following its decisive victory in Thursday’s general election. Analysts said this foreign policy agenda aligned with the party’s focus on economic development, even as it aimed to restore law and order after months of political unrest. The BNP said on social media that it had won enough parliamentary seats... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3343508/bangladeshs-bnp-set-balance-ties-regional-powers-us-avoid-crossing-red-line?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3343508/bangladeshs-bnp-set-balance-ties-regional-powers-us-avoid-crossing-red-line?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 13 Feb 2026 11:08:15 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Bangladesh’s election campaign entered its final day on Monday before this week’s vote, with rival parties invoking the 2024 uprising that ended the autocratic rule of Sheikh Hasina. Tens of thousands of flag-waving supporters attended a succession of rival rallies across the sprawling capital Dhaka, as parties sought to harness the legacy of the mass uprising and pitch competing visions of change for the country of 170 million in Thursday’s election. The South Asian nation will elect a 350-seat... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3342969/bangladeshs-political-parties-campaign-over-revolutions-legacy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3342969/bangladeshs-political-parties-campaign-over-revolutions-legacy?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Feb 2026 15:32:47 +0000 Biman Mukherji Biman Mukherji Controversial remarks in Bangladesh by a politician who questioned women’s ability to perform jobs because of their child-bearing role have caused an uproar ahead of the general election in a country where female workers form the spine of its mainstay garment sector. Shafiqur Rahman, the chief of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, also ruled out the possibility of a woman assuming the Islamist party’s top post. In a TV interview, Rahman said women with babies should be given the option of fewer... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3342709/outcry-bangladesh-over-politicians-call-curb-women-workforce?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3342709/outcry-bangladesh-over-politicians-call-curb-women-workforce?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Feb 2026 08:00:26 +0000 Biman Mukherji Biman Mukherji Bangladesh’s recent pull-out over perceived security concerns for the showpiece T20 World Cup cricket hosted by India and Sri Lanka next month has underscored the unprecedented way regional political tensions have spilled over into sports. Bangladesh was replaced by Scotland in the 20-team event on Saturday after the International Cricket Council rejected Dhaka’s request to move its matches to Sri Lanka, saying it was not feasible to change the schedule so close to the February 7 start. The... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3341669/bangladeshs-cricket-boycott-exposes-deepening-cracks-south-asian-diplomacy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3341669/bangladeshs-cricket-boycott-exposes-deepening-cracks-south-asian-diplomacy?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Jan 2026 09:00:10 +0000 Biman Mukherji Biman Mukherji Bangladesh’s student leaders, one of the main driving forces behind the mass protests that brought down former prime minister Sheikh Hasina in 2024, now face an uncertain political future. Despite their central role in the uprising, the youth movement has been granted only a small share of parliamentary seats under a new electoral alliance led by Jamaat-e-Islami – an Islamist party that was long politically marginalised but has re-emerged as a central player. Under the agreement, the student-led... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3340471/bangladeshs-student-leaders-sidelined-islamist-allies-poll-pact?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3340471/bangladeshs-student-leaders-sidelined-islamist-allies-poll-pact?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Jan 2026 04:00:11 +0000 Biman Mukherji Biman Mukherji India’s decision to suspend visa services from Bangladesh’s port city of Chittagong after a fresh bout of political violence underscores how difficult it may be for bilateral ties to return to normal any time soon, analysts have said. The suspension, announced on Sunday, followed protests triggered by the death of Sharif Osman Hadi, 32, a youth leader linked to last year’s student-led uprising, who was shot in Dhaka on December 12 and later died from his injuries at a hospital in Singapore after... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3337371/indias-partial-visa-suspension-signals-unease-over-bangladeshs-recent-unrest?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3337371/indias-partial-visa-suspension-signals-unease-over-bangladeshs-recent-unrest?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Dec 2025 12:06:01 +0000 Biman Mukherji Biman Mukherji Two months before Bangladesh heads to the polls for the first time since the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government, the most established party still in the race, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), is facing deep uncertainty as its two top figures are either gravely ill or stuck abroad. BNP chair Begum Khaleda Zia, a former prime minister, is battling serious complications involving her heart, liver and lungs and is expected to be flown to London from Dhaka for treatment, while her son Tarique... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3335640/why-a-leading-party-in-Bangladesh-is-facing-uncertainty-as-election-looms?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3335640/why-a-leading-party-in-Bangladesh-is-facing-uncertainty-as-election-looms?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Dec 2025 12:00:32 +0000 Biman Mukherji Biman Mukherji India is unlikely to accept an extradition request for Bangladesh’s former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who is facing the death penalty in her own country for crimes against humanity. Hasina, 78, has been living in India since fleeing Bangladesh in August last year after the fall of her regime. She was sentenced to death on Monday after being found guilty by a tribunal of incitement, issuing kill orders and failing to stop atrocities linked to last year’s protests in which up to 1,400 people... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3333252/why-india-extraditing-hasina-bangladesh-face-death-penalty-unlikely?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3333252/why-india-extraditing-hasina-bangladesh-face-death-penalty-unlikely?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 18 Nov 2025 09:30:21 +0000 Biman Mukherji Biman Mukherji Bangladesh’s fugitive former prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, has expressed regret over the “needless” bloodshed as her administration tried to squash student-led protests that resulted in her losing power after 15 years, but poured scorn on a tribunal due to rule if she committed crimes against humanity by ordering the crackdown. In a defiant interview with This Week in Asia just days before the verdict in her trial in absentia, the 78-year-old accused the interim government that replaced her of... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3332682/bangladeshs-hasina-regrets-student-bloodshed-slams-trial-judicial-mockery?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3332682/bangladeshs-hasina-regrets-student-bloodshed-slams-trial-judicial-mockery?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 13 Nov 2025 12:12:44 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Bangladeshi prosecution lawyers demanded on Thursday that fugitive ex-prime minister Sheikh Hasina receive the death penalty in her trial for crimes against humanity. Hasina has defied court orders to return from India, where she fled last year, to face charges of ordering a deadly crackdown in a failed attempt to crush a student-led uprising. Up to 1,400 people were killed in the clashes between July and August 2024, according to the United Nations. “We demand the highest punishment for her,”... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3329249/bangladeshs-ex-pm-sheikh-hasina-should-be-put-death-prosecution-demands?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3329249/bangladeshs-ex-pm-sheikh-hasina-should-be-put-death-prosecution-demands?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Oct 2025 09:17:14 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Bangladeshi security forces on Wednesday clashed with supporters of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, leaving at least four people dead and scores injured, a hospital official and local media said. The violence erupted in the morning and spread as a new political party formed by students who led the uprising against Hasina in August last year announced a march towards southwestern Gopalganj district, Hasina’s ancestral and her Awami League party’s stronghold. Authorities later imposed an... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3318520/bangladesh-violence-leaves-least-4-dead-post-hasina-turmoil-persists?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3318520/bangladesh-violence-leaves-least-4-dead-post-hasina-turmoil-persists?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 17 Jul 2025 04:00:16 +0000