Why Were Sheikh Hasina’s Parents And Siblings Including Her 10-Year-Old Brother Killed?

Last Updated:November 18, 2025, 5:39 PM IST

On August 15, 1975, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and most of his family were killed in a coup led by army officers in Dhaka while Sheikh Hasina was with her husband in Germany

In the early hours of August 15, 1975, Bangladesh was jolted into one of the darkest chapters of its history. As the country marked another anniversary of Independence, a faction of mid-ranking army officers moved under the cover of night, setting in motion a coup that would wipe out almost the entire family of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the nation’s founding President.

Shortly after midnight, heavily armed soldiers from the Bengal Lancers and the 535 Infantry Regiment fanned out in Dhaka, dividing themselves into small tactical units. Their primary target was House No 32 on Dhanmondi, where Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was asleep with his family. Tanks, mortars and machine guns were positioned with military precision and by dawn, the entire household was reduced to silence.

Political discontent had been simmering for months. Mujib’s creation of a one-party structure under the Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League (BAKSAL) in June 1975, which abolished opposition politics and muzzled the press, had deepened resentment within sections of the armed forces. Conspirators, including Colonel Khandaker Abdur Rashid and Major Syed Farooq-ur-Rahman, believed that unseating the President, and eliminating his lineage, was important to overturn what they viewed as authoritarian excesses and India-leaning governance.

Around 5 am, the quiet of Dhanmondi was shattered as Major Bazlul Huda’s unit opened fire at the residence’s gate. Startled awake, Sheikh Mujib telephoned Colonel Jamil for assistance; the officer was gunned down as soon as he arrived. Moments later, the President confronted the soldiers inside his home, reportedly asking them, “What do you want?” His question was answered by a volley of bullets. According to later testimonies, Mujib was hit multiple times before collapsing on the staircase, where his body remained until the operation concluded.

What followed inside the home was a systematic killing. Mujib’s eldest son, Sheikh Kamal, was shot dead shortly after coming downstairs. His second son, Sheikh Jamal, and Jamal’s wife, Rosie, were pulled from a bathroom where they had taken shelter and executed.

The President’s 10-year-old son, Sheikh Russel, who pleaded to be taken to his mother, was also killed. Begum Fazilatunnesa Mujib, the First Lady, was shot after refusing to leave her husband’s side. Several household staff, relatives and guests met the same fate.

Outside, coordinated assaults unfolded simultaneously across the capital city. At the residence of Sheikh Fazlul Haq Moni, the President’s nephew, Moni and his pregnant wife were murdered. On Mintoo Road, Agriculture Minister Abdur Rab Serniabat and 13 members of his extended family were killed. Resistance put up by soldiers in Savar resulted in further casualties. By the end of the morning, more than 40 people, including family members, security personnel and civilians, lay dead.

The only survivors of the immediate family were Sheikh Hasina and her younger sister, Rehana, who were in Germany at the time. Hasina, then 28, had flown to meet her husband, nuclear scientist Dr MA Wazed, just a fortnight earlier. From Germany, the news seemed unbelievable. “Could Bengalis do this?” she would later recall thinking.

India extended covert assistance, with then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi arranging safe accommodation for the sisters under assumed identities in Delhi.

The trauma that followed shaped Sheikh Hasina’s political life. She demanded justice even during her years in exile, addressing gatherings in London in 1980 and urging the international community to recognise the massacre. Repeated attempts on her life followed her return to Bangladesh in 1981, when she assumed leadership of the Awami League.

The post-coup political landscape shifted repeatedly. Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad took charge briefly, only to be replaced after another coup in November 1975. General Ziaur Rahman eventually emerged as the dominant figure. The assassins were protected under indemnity laws until 1996, when Sheikh Hasina’s first government overturned the legal shield. Trials began in 1998, and in 2010, 12 men including key plotters Rashid and Farooq were sentenced to death. Several convicts, however, remain absconding.

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