Bangladesh police fire tear gas as Hasina backers demand her return

Bangladeshi police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to scatter supporters of deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who are demanding she be allowed back into the country. A police vehicle was set on fire in Gopalganj district, where the banned student wing of Hasina's Awami League clashed with security forces. The nationwide protests kicked off a day after Hasina said she had asked for a passport so she could return from exile in India.

The demonstrations by the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) mark the first organised show of force by Hasina's backers since she was ousted in August 2024, after a mass uprising ended her 15-year reign. Protesters tried to block roads with burning tyres, disrupting traffic in several areas, and several passenger vehicles were torched in the run-up to the protests. A 60-year-old bus driver died from smoke inhalation after his vehicle was set alight in the city of Faridpur early on Tuesday, and around 200 protesters briefly halted traffic on the 6.2km (4 mile) Padma bridge linking Dhaka to the south-west.

Bangladeshi local media reported dozens of crude bombs exploding in Dhaka and elsewhere over the past few days. Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed said any attempt to destabilise the country through a conspiracy from across the border would not succeed. A senior BCL leader now in exile abroad insisted the group's supporters were not behind the violence, blaming unknown miscreants and saying they believe in peaceful protest.

Hasina fled to India after the 2024 uprising and was later banned from politics, with the Awami League barred from contesting February's general election. A special tribunal sentenced her to death in absentia last year for crimes against humanity; she called the trial biased and politically motivated and denies all charges. She now says she wants to return in December and asked the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi for a passport — a request Dhaka refused, labelling her a terrorist.

Junior foreign affairs minister Humaiun Kobir said Bangladesh has an active extradition treaty with India and wants her handed over, calling her a fugitive criminal. A state prosecutor said on Tuesday that the verdict would be carried out if she came back, noting she had missed her chance to appeal. Awami League leaders allege hundreds of their supporters have been killed in mob violence over the past two years and dozens have died in security force custody, accusations Dhaka officials reject.