Quick Info→

Hometown: Tungipara Upazila, Bangladesh

Age: 71 Years

Husband: Late M.A. Wazed Miah

Sheikh Hasina

Sheikh Hasina

Some Lesser Known Facts About Sheikh Hasina

  • Sheikh Hasina’s father ‘Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’ was the first President of Bangladesh (1971).
  • She has said in many interviews that she had grown up living in fear due to her father’s political works.
  • She inherited politics from her family. In her college days, she went on to win the vice-presidential elections of her College’s Student Union by beating Motiya Chowdhury, who later joined her national political party, Awami League. She was also associated with the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), a student wing of Awami League.
  • Since the political affairs of Bangladesh were very unstable in 1971  (Bangladesh separated completely from Pakistan), she had to leave the country for a few years.
  • Hasina was not in Bangladesh when the assassination of her father took place on 15 August 1975 (her mother and three brothers were also executed). She and her sister escaped getting assassinated as they were in West Germany at that time, She was not even allowed to return to the country. Sheikh Hasina's Family

    Sheikh Hasina’s Family

  • She was living in India in exile but when she was elected to lead the Awami League Party on 16 February 1981,  she returned to Bangladesh.
  • She was in detention throughout her 1980’s. She was placed under house arrest twice in 1984 and again in 1985 for three months.
  • In 1990, through a legit process, she challenged General Ershad who led the martial law and it took few years to made him quit.
  • Before her play into politics, elections were often manipulated, by inappropriate methods of voting and even counting them prevailed that time, and the country was so erratic that those who raised their voice against the government were often jailed, exiled, or even murdered. Through this lady’s dedication and efforts, an amendment for neutral and free elections was passed. Bangladesh significantly improved becoming more democratic, less violent and allowing more civil rights than ever before.
  • In 1991, she contested for the elections from 3 constituencies but won only from her home constituency, Gopalganj. The same year, she went on to Leader of the Opposition in the country’s Fifth Parliament, she escorted all the political parties in the parliament towards changing the Presidential system into the Parliamentary one.
  • Her party won the national election in 1996 for the first time and she became the second lady Prime Minister of Bangladesh (Khaleda Zia was the First lady Prime Minister of Bangladesh).
  • When she first became the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, the first ever caretaker government was formed in the country after she delegated Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed to become the 12th President of Bangladesh.
  • The Ganges Water Sharing Treaty with India as well as the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) Peace pact with the Parbatya Chattagram Jana- Samhati Samiti (PCJSS) was signed by the Hasina government in 1996 and 1997 respectively. These created an environment of peace, harmony, and development in Bangladesh.
  • In 1997, along with the Queen of Spain and the United States First Lady Hillary Clinton, she was proposed to co-chair the ‘Micro-credit Summit’ which became an essential humanitarian movement.
  • During her tenure as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, the opposition parties demanded early elections; as Bangladesh was declared to be the most corrupt country in the world by Transparency International.
  • In 2001, she lost the elections and the political conditions of Bangladesh got worse and the whole country was left to violent protests, strikes, and complete unrest.
  •  In 2004, during her tenure in the opposition, she was targeted and survived a number of fatal attacks. These attacks were followed by the death of 21 ‘Awami League’ members.
  • She decided to contest the Ninth National Parliamentary Elections of 2008 under “Grand Alliance” with the Jatiya Party led by Hussain Muhammad Ershad and won the general elections with a two-thirds majority i.e., 230 seats out of 299.
  • Finally, she was sworn into office as the Prime Minister for the second time on 6 January 2009.
  • Her second term (2009 to 2014) as Prime Minister was overshadowed by some big scandals. These include; Padma Bridge Scandal, Hallmark-Sonali Bank Scam, Share market Scandal, Rana Plaza collapse.
  • In January 2014, Hasina became the Prime Minister for the third time after winning the general election, which was snubbed by the main opposition BNP led alliance. The elections have been called “An electoral farce”.
  • Her rivalry with Khaleda Zia is widely known as “Battle Of The Begums”. Sheikh Hasina With Khaleda Zia

    Sheikh Hasina With Khaleda Zia

  • Hasina is a Patron of Asian University for Women, led by Chancellor, Mrs. Cherie Blair, and including the First Lady of Japan, HE Akie Abe, as well as Irina Bokova, the Director-General of UNESCO.
  • Hasina ranks 30th on the Forbes List of World’s 100 Most Powerful Women, this list was published in 2017.
  • The position of Bangladeshi women in the society has improved and upgraded by her efforts. Women have been given a voice in politics since then.
  • In the 2018 general elections, her party registered a splendid victory with 96% of seats. Thereafter, she went on to become the 10th Prime Minister of Bangladesh. Sheikh Hasina After Winning The Elections In December 2018

    Sheikh Hasina After Winning The Elections In December 2018

  • Sheikh contested and won the 2024 Bangladesh general elections from the Gopalganj-3 constituency on a ticket from the Awami League. She was re-elected as the prime minister for the fifth consecutive term, becoming the longest-serving Prime Minister of Bangladesh.

ncG1vNJzZmirpJa%2FtMHNn6alnJWZe6S7zGiqoZ2ZoLVutMCsoKeZXw%3D%3D