New Delhi, Aug. 9 -- Sheikh Hasina has chosen an unusually loaded month for her proposed return to Bangladesh. December is not merely another page on the calendar. It is Victory Month, culminating in December 16, when Bangladesh commemorates the surrender of Pakistani forces in 1971 and the birth of the nation. For Hasina and the Awami League, the symbolism is particularly potent because the party has traditionally presented itself as the political custodian of the Liberation War, Bengali nationalism and the legacy of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

That makes the announcement considerably more than a declaration of personal intent. It is a political message, a psychological signal and potentially a calculated attempt to reclaim a narrative that ...