by Our Correspondent in New Delhi
Bangladesh is on edge as the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) prepares to announce today, on Thursday, November 13, the date of its verdict in the case against former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The tribunal, operating under the interim government of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, is trying Hasina on charges of crimes against humanity — including murder — linked to the deadly July 2024 uprising that toppled her 15-year rule.
Security forces have been placed on the highest alert, with army and police units deployed across airports, government buildings, and vital installations nationwide. The Awami League, Hasina’s now-banned party, has called for a dawn-to-dusk lockdown on Thursday, defying restrictions and vowing mass protests. Despite the ban, party loyalists continue to circulate messages and rally online from undisclosed locations.
Over the past two days, Dhaka and several regional cities have witnessed renewed violence. Reports of vehicle arson and crude bomb explosions have emerged alongside intensified police crackdowns. Security checkpoints now line major roads, while hundreds of Awami League activists have been detained in preemptive raids.
The tribunal’s proceedings against Hasina carry deep historical irony. The ICT was originally established by her government to prosecute collaborators and war criminals from the 1971 Liberation War. Under her leadership, several Islamist opposition figures were tried and executed — a process widely criticized for political bias. Today, that same tribunal stands poised to determine Hasina’s own fate under charges of mass violence and abuse of power during her final months in office.
Following her ouster in August 2024, when the military sided with a student-led uprising, Hasina fled to India. The interim administration led by Muhammad Yunus subsequently reconstituted the tribunal’s mandate to include crimes committed during her tenure. UN reports estimate that nearly 1,400 people were killed during the July protests, prompting widespread calls for accountability.
Legal analysts suggest that if convicted, Hasina could face life imprisonment or even a death sentence, alongside the loss of her civic and political rights. Sources close to the tribunal indicate that the Yunus administration views the case as a necessary step toward closing a “dark chapter” in Bangladesh’s governance — one marked by authoritarianism, censorship, and systematic human rights abuses.
Still, Hasina’s supporters argue that the charges are politically motivated and that the trial serves as a tool of retribution rather than justice. They warn that a verdict branding Hasina a war criminal could inflame tensions and plunge the country back into chaos.
As Bangladesh awaits the tribunal’s announcement, the outcome is expected to redefine the nation’s political landscape. If the ICT confirms Sheikh Hasina’s culpability, it would not only seal the fate of the country’s longest-serving leader but also mark the most dramatic reckoning in its post-independence history — one that may strip her of every civic right she once used to command absolute power.
