Indian National Congress leader Sonia Gandhi has reflected on her personal ties and impressions of several prominent South Asian figures in her book, Belonging: A Journey of Love. Among the most notable figures featured in her memoirs is former Bangladeshi Prime Minister and Awami League President Sheikh Hasina. At a time when Hasina is navigating the gravest crisis of her political career—and adversaries in Bangladesh contend that her political chapter has closed—Sonia strikes an optimistic note. Writing about the Awami League leader, she observes that one cannot tell in advance when, or in whose favour, the wheel of time will turn.
The remarks carry particular resonance against the backdrop of recent developments. Hasina has announced her decision to return to Bangladesh next December and has already sought the return of her passport and National Identity card from the authorities in Dhaka. Whilst Sonia does not directly reference this planned homecoming in her text, her reflection on shifting political fortunes points towards the possibility of a resurgence. In exploring their bond, Sonia highlights a poignant parallel in their lives. Both women endured devastating family tragedies—Hasina lost her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, while Sonia lost her mother-in-law, Indira Gandhi, and her husband, Rajiv Gandhi—before stepping into active politics to take the helm of their respective parties.
Much of what Sonia writes about Bangladesh centres on Sheikh Hasina, tracing a familial and personal association that began in the early 1980s. Following the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman alongside most of his family in 1975, then-Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi granted political asylum to Hasina and her sister. Hasina spent six consecutive years in exile in India, a period during which Sonia first became acquainted with her. Having eventually returned to her homeland after those six years, Hasina now finds herself residing in India once again.
As a political figure, Hasina commands strong admiration from the senior Congress leader. Sonia recalls that listening to Hasina’s public addresses used to give her goosebumps; even though she could not understand most of the Bengali words, the raw emotion and delivery of the speeches moved her deeply. According to Sonia, Hasina nurtured a dream of restoring democracy in Bangladesh ever since returning from India in 1981. Overcoming decades of political turbulence, she rose to become Prime Minister and established herself as a formidable leader. Sonia also notes that under Hasina’s stewardship, Bangladesh—once regarded as one of the world’s poorest nations—made substantial strides across key development indicators, emerging as one of South Asia’s stronger-performing economies.
The warm rapport extends across the wider Gandhi family. In 2011, Sonia travelled to Dhaka to accept the posthumous Bangladesh Freedom Honour conferred upon Indira Gandhi by Hasina’s government for her pivotal role in Bangladesh’s Liberation War, receiving the accolade from then-President Zillur Rahman. More recently, during Hasina’s visit to New Delhi as Prime Minister in early 2024, Sonia met her at her hotel accompanied by Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi. Sonia writes that Hasina remained remarkably warm and unaffected, always making time to visit them whenever she was in India. Coincidentally, their final meeting in New Delhi took place just days before Hasina’s ouster and the collapse of her government.
