The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday said there was no information yet on Sheikh Hasina’s future plans, days after the Bangladeshi leader fled the country amid violent protests against her rule. When asked when she would leave India, a ministry spokesperson said, “We have no information on her plans…”
Mrs Hasina – who had resigned and left Dhaka just hours before the attack on the prime minister’s residence – was evacuated by a military plane and taken to an Indian Air Force base in Uttar Pradesh. She was expected to proceed to seek political asylum in the United Kingdom, but there has been no news since.
At present, he is believed to be in a ‘safe place’ and in the custody of Indian intelligence agencies.
On Wednesday night, Mrs. Hasina’s son, Sajeeb Wazed, told NDTV that his mother had not made a formal request for asylum in any country, including India. “Reports of her seeking asylum are false. She has not requested anywhere. So the question of the U.K. or the U.S. not responding yet is not true.”
Mr Wazed lives in Washington DC in the United States. Mrs Hasina left Bangladesh with her sister Sheikh Rehana, who is a British citizen and whose daughter Tulip Siddiqui is a Labour Party MP. Her daughter Saima Wazed is a senior Delhi-based person at the World Health Organisation.
The former prime minister’s son told NDTV that his mother is considering retirement after a political career that spanned five terms as head of Bangladesh’s government. “She is far removed from politics in Bangladesh… My mother was planning to retire anyway, this was going to be her last term,” he said.
On Tuesday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar made a brief statement in Parliament in which he said the government had received Mrs Hasina’s request to visit India “in a very short time”.
He said, “On August 5, protesters gathered in Dhaka despite curfew. Our understanding is that after a meeting with leaders of the security establishment, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina apparently decided to resign. In a very short time, she sought permission to travel to India. We received the request for flight clearance from Bangladesh authorities at the same time. She arrived in Delhi yesterday evening.”
