# Sheikh Hasina: Bangladesh's Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed was born on September 28, 1947, and served as Prime Minister of Bangladesh across multiple terms, becoming the country's longest-serving prime minister in its history.[5] She is the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh's founding president, and has led the Awami League party since 1981.[5] Hasina's political career began following the assassination of her father in 1975, during which she and her younger sister survived by being abroad in Germany.[2] She spent approximately six years in exile in India before returning to Bangladesh on May 17, 1981, where she immediately campaigned against military rule for democratic restoration.[2] The Awami League, under her leadership, won the June 1996 parliamentary elections, bringing her to power for the first time since her father's death.[2] Her political tenure included four separate terms as prime minister: from 1996 to 2001, and then from 2009 to 2024.[5] She notably became the first leader to step down peacefully after serving a full five-year term in 2001.[2] Following subsequent electoral victories in 2008, 2014, 2018, and January 2024, she accumulated 15 years and 212 days in office across her terms.[2][3] However, her final tenure ended amid significant political upheaval. Beginning in July 2024, mass student-led protests erupted, which security forces cracked down on, resulting in hundreds of deaths.[5] On August 5, 2024, Hasina resigned and fled to India following nationwide protests against her government.[4] In November 2025, she was convicted in absentia by Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal on charges of crimes against humanity, including ordering lethal force against protesters, and sentenced to death—a verdict she rejected as politically motivated.[5] Meanwhile, Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus assumed leadership of an interim government following her departure.[6]