Sheikh Hasina in India: Sheikh Hasina, who was the Prime Minister of Bangladesh for 15 consecutive years, was overthrown in a few minutes due to which she had to flee to save her life. She got only 45 minutes to flee the country, in which she fled to India. But the question is why only India? She could have gone to Nepal. She could have gone to Bhutan. Or else she could have gone to Pakistan. She could have gone to Britain, America, France, Russia or any other country of the world. But when she fled, she fled to India. So the question is why. Let us try to find the answer to this today.
India’s neighbor Bangladesh is an Islamic country. More than 80 percent of the population follows Islam. However, at the time of its formation, Bangladesh was a secular country and it remained secular till 1986. Bangladesh’s military dictator General Hussain Mohammad Ershad changed the constitution and declared Bangladesh an Islamic country. The weekly holiday used to be on Sunday, but it was changed to Friday. Apart from this, many such big changes took place during the dictatorship of General Hussain Mohammad Ershad, due to which Bangladesh became a staunch Islamic country.
Why did Sheikh Hasina not go to Muslim countries?
Although, first Khaleda Zia and then Sheikh Hasina took over the power of Bangladesh, but they could never change the nature of religion in the country. In such a situation, when the Prime Minister of a staunch Islamic country, Sheikh Hasina, was overthrown, she did not look at the other 200 countries of the world. Neither did she look at the other 56 Islamic countries. She fled to save her life and came to India. There are two major reasons for this. The first reason is the secular fabric of India, which Sheikh Hasina has also been a supporter of and this is also one of the biggest reasons for her overthrow. Because Jamaat-e-Islami created an atmosphere against this secularism of Sheikh Hasina and then the Bangladesh Army took full advantage of it. The result was that Sheikh Hasina’s life was in danger and now the atrocities being committed against the Hindus of Bangladesh are not hidden from anyone.
India and Bangladesh relations
The second biggest reason for Sheikh Hasina fleeing to India is the relationship between Bangladesh and India since the time of her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. It is India that sent its army to help the Mukti Bahini of Bangladesh and then broke Pakistan in the Indo-Pakistani war and created the new Bangladesh. It is India that gave Sheikh Hasina refuge after the assassination of Sheikh Hasina’s father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, due to which Sheikh Hasina’s life was saved. At that time, the lives of Sheikh Hasina and her sister Rihanna were saved because both the sisters were in Germany and not in Bangladesh.
Sheikh Hasina has lived in India before
India’s Prime Minister Indira Gandhi sent India’s ambassador to Germany Humayun Rashid Chaudhary to meet Hasina. Humayun Rashid Chaudhary also made Hasina talk to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and then on August 25, 1975, Sheikh Hasina reached a safe house in Delhi by a special Air India flight. Her name was changed so that no one in Bangladesh would know. Sheikh Hasina became Miss Majumdar and started living in a three-room house in C Block of Pandara Park, which was being guarded by Indian agencies. Sheikh Hasina had then lived in India for about 6 years.
India supported Sheikh Hasina
Even in the year 2009, when Bangladesh Rifles revolted against Sheikh Hasina and tried to stage a coup, India had helped Sheikh Hasina and maintained her power. But now in 2024, when India also felt that Sheikh Hasina cannot be saved in any way while staying in Bangladesh, immediately after the coup, India itself invited Sheikh Hasina to come to India and helpless Sheikh Hasina fled to India, where India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval met Sheikh Hasina.
Britain silent on Sheikh Hasina’s political asylum
Now Sheikh Hasina is in India. She has neither brought clothes nor essential goods. So she is doing all this shopping in India itself. But the question is, for how long? Will Sheikh Hasina stay in India permanently or will she have to stay in India until the conditions in Bangladesh are favorable to Sheikh Hasina. No correct answer has been found so far, because no country in the world is ready to give Sheikh Hasina asylum at the moment. Britain has maintained silence, America has closed its door, Finland is saying that it has no information. As for Russia, Russia itself is surrounded on many fronts. In such a situation, it is not clear what stance it takes on giving Sheikh Hasina asylum. Sheikh Hasina can also consider going to UAE and Saudi Arabia, but no initiative has been taken by those two countries yet.
Sheikh Hasina will stay in India for now
Overall, Sheikh Hasina is in India right now and she has to stay in India for some time. But it is not decided how long this time will be. However, the kind of preparations the Indian government has made and the way a separate safe house is being searched for Sheikh Hasina so that the NSG can protect Sheikh Hasina, it is certain that Sheikh Hasina is not going anywhere outside India right now.
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