Only Sheikh Hasina Can Awaken Bangladesh from the Ashes

From bayonets to betrayal and in the awake of betrayal, Sheikh Hasina’s light must return to Bangladesh.

Sheikh Hasina, the indomitable daughter of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, stands today not merely as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh but as the last sentry defending the soul of a nation bought with blood in 1971. At a time when our beloved Bangladesh bleeds again—this time not from invading armies, but from internal sabotage, foreign conspiracies, and the stealthy erosion of its founding spirit—her leadership is not just desirable, it is existential.

The unlawful, puppet government imposed upon us on 8 August 2024, headed by the rogue Dr. Muhammad Yunus, is nothing short of a CIA-orchestrated political invasion. It is a criminal syndicate cloaked in governance, a regime born not of the people but of deceit, collusion, and a deep-state conspiracy stitched together by the American CIA, Pakistan’s venomous ISI, Jamaat-e-Islami’s butcher’s bloc, and the ragged remnants of BNP's failed politics. These reactionary forces, aided by Dhaka Cantonment’s illegitimate political surrogates and jihadist extremists, have once again despoiled the soil soaked by the martyrs of our glorious 1971 Liberation War.

Bangladesh is today standing at a dark and dangerous precipice—what was once a beacon of emerging prosperity is now gripped by a treacherous clique of impostors. And yet, hope is not lost. That hope lies in the return of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina—the architect of our nation’s 21st-century renaissance.

For over a decade and a half, Sheikh Hasina led Bangladesh through a spectacular transformation that lifted millions out of poverty, placed our nation firmly on the global map, and reaffirmed our commitment to secularism, democracy, and inclusive development. Under her visionary leadership, the nation rose like a phoenix from the embers of 1975’s betrayal.

Sheikh Hasina’s development credentials are unparalleled in the history of this subcontinent. If Rabindranath Tagore was the poet of thought and Bangabandhu was the poet of political liberation, then Sheikh Hasina is the poetess of transformation—the orchestrator of Bangladesh’s material, infrastructural, and spiritual rebirth.

Look around: the metro rail gliding through Dhaka’s sky, the resplendent Padma Bridge tying together a fragmented south, the quiet hum of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, and the soon-to-be Matarbari Deep Sea Port—all these are monuments to her unflinching will. They are the testimony of a woman who refused to allow Bangladesh to remain in the footnotes of history.

Under her stewardship, Bangladesh envisioned the next leap: from “Digital Bangladesh” to “Smart Bangladesh” by 2041. Her roadmap is clear—Smart Citizenry, Smart Economy, Smart Governance, and Smart Society. She knew well that the future belongs to the nations that prepare—not just dream.

Even global observers, many of them distant and dispassionate, have hailed her as a modern-day Joan of Arc—unyielding in the face of assassinations, coup attempts, and character assassinations. Her resilience is not merely political; it is moral. In a region where leadership is often transactional and transitory, Hasina embodies the long view of history.

Yet this glorious trajectory was brutally disrupted on 8 August 2024 by what can only be termed as a neocolonial coup. The American deep state, with its colonial nostalgia and imperial arrogance, sought to impose their handpicked marionette: Dr. Muhammad Yunus. Their calculations were cynical but clear—to control a strategic Muslim-majority democracy at the edge of the Bay of Bengal through proxy rule.

Yunus, once a Nobel-draped darling of the West under cloak-and-dagger, revealed his true face as the leader of this vile junta. Cloaked in the language of civility and reform, his regime is no more than a front for kleptocracy and repression. His alliance with Jamaat’s ideological fascists, BNP’s vulture-politicians, and the radical Islamist forces who once opposed Bangladesh’s birth, is nothing short of a national insult—a desecration of our collective memory.

This illegitimate cabal has ransacked the state’s treasury, militarised civil society, throttled dissent, and turned the once-functional democracy into a pseudo-republic held together by fear and foreign validation. The economy is now in freefall, joblessness has soared, exports are stagnating, industries are paralyzed, and the people of Bangladesh—those who once held their heads high—now walk in silence, stripped of dignity.

The only way out of this abyss is the restoration of legitimate, visionary leadership. AND THAT NAME IS SHEIKH HASINA.

Her return to power is not about partisanship—it is about national salvation. For every mega-project left incomplete, for every disrupted educational reform, for every human rights abuse committed under this illegal regime, there must be justice and a return to constitutional order. The democratic mandate of the people, stolen in broad daylight with foreign fingerprints all over it, must be restored.

Let us not forget that Sheikh Hasina had already placed Bangladesh on a trajectory to become the 26th largest economy in the world. The GDP had touched an impressive 8 percent growth before the pandemic. Poverty rates were declining, and the country was poised to graduate from the Least Developed Country (LDC) category by 2026. From the launch of Bangabandhu Satellite-1 to Japanese Economic Zones, from Shahjalal Airport’s expansion to Mirsarai’s 30,000-acre economic enclave—every corner of Bangladesh had started to vibrate with possibility.

Today, that symphony of progress has been replaced by the wailing silence of betrayal.

Bangladesh cannot be allowed to regress into the shadows of foreign dependency, Islamist radicalism, and military meddling. This land was born through the fire of liberation—not to be ruled by cowards and collaborators. Our journey from language movement to liberation war was not to end in submission to boardroom coups planned in Langley or Rawalpindi.

Let us then, as citizens of this proud Republic, unite again—not in despair, but in resolve. The battle ahead is not one of bullets, but ballots. Not of vengeance, but vigilance. Let us rise to cleanse our nation of this vile imposture. Let us raise our voices in every village and city, in every bazar and campus, to demand the rightful return of Sheikh Hasina and the end of foreign-imposed illegitimacy.

History has given us another chance to defend our country—not against West Pakistani tanks, but against the equally insidious menace of internal subversion and international manipulation.

The daughter of Bangabandhu must return not merely as a leader, but as the symbol of our sovereign will and democratic dignity. Bangladesh, which emerged radiant from the blood-soaked battlefield of 1971, deserves no less.

Let us not fail her again. Let us not fail ourselves. I resonate with these poetic words as a tribute born from the deepest chambers of my heart:

Where Betrayal Bleeds, Let Her Flame Rekindle

In the Wake of Betrayal, Her Light Must Return

From Bayonets to Shadows—Her Hand Must Heal the Nation

Sheikh Hasina: Torchbearer Through the Tempest

Let Her Rise Where Tyrants Tread

She Shall Lead Where Bayonets Failed

From Coup’s Cold Claws, Her Dawn Must Break

In the Face of Treason, Her Banner Must Fly

Where the Republic Weeps, Her Light Remains

Amid Ruins and Regret, Her Name Endures

She Walks Where Liberty Once Fell

Echoes of a Betrayed Land, Calling Her Home

Hope Rises in Her Footsteps

From Darkness to Destiny: Her Path Forward

She is the Flame That Shall Reclaim the Nation

Where the Nation Falters, Her Strength Shall Stand

Written by: Anwar A. Khan

Author's Bio: The writer is a freedom fighter and an independent political analyst based in Dhaka, Bangladesh, who writes on politics, political and human-centred figures, current and international affairs.

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