The recent wave of arson and cocktail bomb attacks across Dhaka, including attacks on police vehicles and numerous reported explosions, exposes the country's deepening security crisis. Attacks on public transport, police and public spaces have spread fear and uncertainty amid rumours of Hasina's return and rising political tensions, raising serious questions about the state's ability to maintain law and order.

But this also raises a bigger question: how can the return of a ruler ousted through a popular uprising remain a possibility in Bangladesh's political landscape? The growing discussion around Hasina's return and the continuing unrest cannot be separated from the country's wider political and geopolitical struggles. The UK and India have their own strategic interests in Bangladesh, and their relationship with Hasina and the Awami League raises concerns about external influence over the country's political future. Meanwhile, the current regime appears to be moving closer to the US and its allies. Bangladesh is increasingly caught between these competing foreign interests, because the political system that allows such interference remains largely unchanged. The faces in power may have changed, but the institutions and power structures inherited from Hasina's rule remain intact, which Britain-India previously used to exert dominance over the country, and now America is using. Ultimately, the problem goes beyond any particular party or ruler; it lies in a ruling system that continues to serve established domestic and foreign interests rather than the aspirations of the people. The revolutionaries and the so-called new political settlement have therefore failed to lead the country out of the darkness and deep-rooted crises left behind by Hasina's regime, falling short of the people's hopes for genuine change after her ousting.

Moreover, the promotion of a two-party political framework in Bangladesh, often supported by competing Western powers, keeps political competition focused on replacing one government with another rather than challenging the system itself. Bangladesh reflects this pattern, where the Awami League and BNP have historically operated within competing foreign relationships, with the former associated with British-Indian influence and the latter having sought support and engagement from particularly the US. This competition allows external powers to advance their interests through local political actors while keeping the existing political and economic order intact. As a result, people are repeatedly presented with a choice between competing parties without being offered a fundamental change to the system that governs them. The real question, therefore, is not simply who comes to power, but what system governs us and whose interests it serves.

O People, the ousting of the Awami League was only the beginning of the struggle for genuine independence, not its completion. Bangladesh cannot achieve liberation by changing masters or replacing one ruling party with another while retaining the same laws, institutions and political order. Our struggle must go beyond a change of regime. We must end foreign interference, break free from capitalist exploitation and colonial domination, and establish a political order grounded in the Shariah of Allah (swt) - the promised Khilafah Rashidah (Rightly Guided Caliphate) on the method of the Prophethood. The question is no longer simply whether Hasina will return or who will govern next. The real question is whether we are ready to break away from the existing political and economic order and establish a genuinely independent system that serves our people and fulfils our obligations to Allah(swt). Allah (swt) says in the Qur’an,

‏[يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اسْتَجِيبُوا لِلَّهِ وَلِلرَّسُولِ إِذَا دَعَاكُمْ لِمَا يُحْيِيكُمْ]‎

“O you who believe! Respond to Allah and His Messenger when he calls you to that which gives you life.” [Surah Al-Anfal:24].

Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir in Wilayah Bangladesh