A year after student-led protests led to the downfall of former autocratic leader Sheikh Hasina, nearly 300 people have tragically lost their lives in political violence across Bangladesh. This stark revelation comes from Odhikar, a prominent Dhaka-based human rights organization, in a report released recently.
Specifically, Odhikar’s findings indicate that at least 281 individuals were killed in incidents involving various political parties between August 2024, when Ms. Hasina’s government collapsed and she fled the country, and September 2025. Beyond this, the report also documented 40 extrajudicial killings of individuals suspected of crimes and another 153 deaths attributed to mob lynchings during the same period.
ASM Nasiruddin Elan, the director of Odhikar, acknowledged that while there has been some improvement in human rights adherence since Ms. Hasina’s departure, a significant challenge remains: a lack of accountability for law enforcement agencies. ‘We may not see the frequent extrajudicial killings or enforced disappearances that were rampant during the Hasina era,’ Mr. Elan stated, ‘but deaths in custody, instances of bribery, and harassment of victims continue unabated.’
Elan further highlighted that ‘innocent people often become victims of atrocities’ due to their alleged associations with the Awami League, Ms. Hasina’s political party, which is currently banned. Hasina’s 15-year tenure was notoriously marked by widespread human rights abuses, including mass detentions and the extrajudicial killings of her political opponents.
The Odhikar report also brought to light a prevalent issue of extortion by political parties since Hasina’s fall, affecting individuals regardless of their economic or social standing. This pattern of extortion reportedly involves groups such as the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which is a key contender for the February 2026 elections, the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement—lauded for initiating the protests that ousted Ms. Hasina—and Jamaat-e-Islami, Bangladesh’s largest Islamist party.
Inefficient policing was cited by Odhikar as a primary factor contributing to the frequent mob attacks observed over the past year. The report argues that ‘police were routinely exploited to serve party interests and granted impunity, which ultimately led to the killing and torture of opposition activists.’ Consequently, the report concludes that ‘the police force largely became dysfunctional and lost its morale’ in the aftermath of Ms. Hasina’s overthrow.
As of now, neither Bangladesh’s interim government nor any of the mentioned political parties have issued a public response to Odhikar’s comprehensive report.