May 8, 2025: Former President of Bangladesh, Abdul Hamid, quietly departed the country early Thursday morning, nine months after the Awami League government was overthrown in a massive student-led uprising. According to local reports, Hamid boarded a Thai Airways flight at 3:05 a.m. local time, accompanied by his wife and brother-in-law.
His departure follows the dramatic collapse of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s administration on August 5 of the previous year. The fall of the Awami League government has triggered widespread arrests and investigations, with several senior party leaders either imprisoned, on the run, or having fled abroad. Hamid, who served two consecutive terms as President, is also reportedly facing a murder charge.
Although many Awami League leaders have been detained while attempting to escape the country via airports and border crossings, it is widely speculated that Abdul Hamid was permitted to leave without interference. An airport official told Dhaka Post, “According to Articles 34 and 102 of the Constitution, no Bangladeshi citizen can be prevented from travelling unless there is a court order. We received no directive to detain or arrest him.”
Since the political transition, Abdul Hamid had remained out of the public eye. The country is currently under the leadership of an interim government headed by Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus, who assumed the role after Hasina fled to India during the height of the protests.
In a parallel political development, former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia returned to Dhaka this week after undergoing medical treatment in London. She arrived on a special plane sent by the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. Zia’s return sparked large-scale celebrations as thousands of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) supporters gathered from the airport to her residence in Gulshan, waving party flags and national banners.
Zia was accompanied by her daughters-in-law, Zubaida Rahman and Sharmila Rahman. Her son, Tarique Rahman, who has been living in London for 17 years to avoid legal prosecution during the Hasina administration, continues to serve as the BNP’s acting chairman from abroad.
As the political landscape in Bangladesh continues to shift rapidly, the departure of a former president and the return of a former prime minister underscore the deep and ongoing reconfiguration of power in the nation.