Bangladesh polls: Death row convicts-turned-politicians enter parliament
New Delhi: The recent general election in Bangladesh, held after the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has thrown up startling results with three controversial figures — including two from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led by Tarique Rahman — securing decisive victories.
The three leaders — Lutfozzaman Babar and Abdul Salam Pintu of the BNP, and ATM Azharul Islam of Jamaat-e-Islami — were earlier sentenced to death during Sheikh Hasina’s tenure. However, following political upheaval and the formation of an interim administration under Muhammad Yunus, the convictions were overturned and they were acquitted by the High Court in December 2024.
The trio is now set to enter Parliament, a development that has raised concerns in strategic circles in New Delhi. Tarique Rahman himself was an accused in the August 21, 2004 grenade attack targeting Sheikh Hasina, which left 24 people dead. Though Hasina survived, the attack became one of the most high-profile terror cases in Bangladesh’s history. Rahman, Babar and others were acquitted in the case by the High Court.
Abdul Salam Pintu has long been a controversial figure. He has been accused of links with Pakistan-based terror outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI), allegedly connected to attacks in India, including the 2006 Varanasi court blast, the 2007 Ajmer Sharif Dargah explosion and the 2011 Delhi blast. Despite these allegations, Pintu reportedly won by a margin of over two lakh votes in the latest election.
ATM Azharul Islam had earlier been sentenced to death for alleged involvement in atrocities during Bangladesh’s 1971 Liberation War, in which around 1,200 people were said to have been killed. A senior political organiser since the late 1990s, he too was acquitted under the Yunus-led interim dispensation.
While the electoral victory of these leaders has sparked debate, Indian officials remain cautiously optimistic about engagement with the new BNP-led government. Diplomatic sources suggest that New Delhi is hopeful of constructive ties and political stability in the region under Tarique Rahman’s leadership.
