It was 5 August 2024 and many of us were glued to our television screens. From shortly after noon, a news ticker kept repeating the same message: Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman will deliver an address.
At around 4:00 pm, he finally stepped up to the microphone. He announced that Sheikh Hasina had resigned. He said, "We will form an interim government and carry on the administration. Please remain patient and give us time." Later, we learned that a Bangladesh Air Force aircraft had flown her to India. But where exactly?
The following day, India Today reported: "The aircraft carrying Sheikh Hasina landed at the Indian Air Force's Hindon Air Base in Ghaziabad, near New Delhi, at 5:36 pm. local time. She was received there by officials of the Indian military."
The Washington Post described the event as follows: "Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country after several hundred people were killed in weeks of clashes between protesters and law enforcement forces." (Source: Mohiuddin Ahmad, Hasina, Batighar.)
Since then, no one has known for certain where Sheikh Hasina, president of the Awami League and former prime minister, is located. Her current whereabouts and circumstances remain unclear. From time to time, audio messages purportedly from her, surface on social media. It is difficult to tell how much of this is authentic and how much has been AI-generated. There are also speculations that she could return to Bangladesh at any moment. The question, however, is this, if she is so eager to return, why did she leave the country in the first place?
News agency AFP reported that "Sheikh Hasina fled Bangladesh in search of a safe haven." The wording is striking. Hasina exercised virtually absolute control over the state. The police, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), the Special Security Force (SSF), and the armed forces were all under her authority. She also had thousands of supporters, many of whom were seen attacking protesters with sticks and firearms. Some of those images were published in the newspapers and broadcast on television channels.
Hasina and her supporters have long claimed that she enjoys immense popular support. Yet despite that, she apparently did not consider herself safe in the country. Not even five thousand people gathered in front of the Ganabhaban, the prime minister's official residence, to express solidarity with her. Instead, she fled to India to save her life.
Hasina is now in India, most likely in New Delhi, living under tight security and considerable secrecy. One question keeps resurfacing: Is she in exile? Was she forced out of the country, or did she leave of her own accord? There is room for doubt, because this is not the first time she has lived in exile.
Following the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in August 1975 and the collapse of the one-party BAKSAL government, she went to India, where she remained for nearly six years. She has often sought to convey that she was not allowed to return to Bangladesh during that period. Many members of her party also believe this. But was that really the case?
When Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, chairman of BAKSAL and president of Bangladesh, was assassinated along with most of his family on 15 August 1975, Hasina and her sister, Sheikh Rehana, were in Brussels. From there, she travelled to Bonn in West Germany. At the time, many Bangladeshis were living in political exile across Europe, particularly in West Germany.
In the years following 1975, several hundred members of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) applied for political asylum there. Their applications were accepted. Many of them later returned to Bangladesh, while others remained abroad. Why Hasina did not seek asylum in Germany or another European country, and instead applied for refuge in India, remains a matter of mystery.
It is important to establish whether Hasina was in India as a political refugee or simply on a long-term visa. To obtain political asylum, an applicant is generally required to surrender their home country''s passport. Did she do so? She did not.
At the request of Hasina and her husband, MA Wazed Miah, the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi renewed their passports. On 26 November 1979, Hasina renewed the passport she had originally received on 18 April 1975 (Passport No. B-096231), paying a fee of 31 rupees and 10 paisa in Indian currency. However, her passport bore no Indian visa. Nor is there any evidence that she ever attempted to return to Bangladesh from Europe or India. There are no reports that she was prevented from boarding a flight at Bonn or Delhi airport, or that, after boarding, she was turned back upon arrival at Dhaka airport and denied entry into the country.
Sheikh Hasina was living in self-imposed exile. A foreign journalist remarked that there was no official restriction preventing her from returning to Bangladesh, she simply chose not to. As he put it, "What would be the point of going back?" (Bichitra, 13 February 1981). After returning to Bangladesh in May 1981, however, Hasina repeatedly claimed that the government had not allowed her to come back. She concealed the fact that her exile had been voluntary. That, too, was part of her political strategy.
On 5 August 2024, Hasina went into exile for a second time. Whether she actually resigned, whether she was forced to go to India or left of her own accord, whether her departure was the result of a negotiated settlement or a flight undertaken in fear for her life, these questions all remain the subject of considerable debate.
Sheikh Hasina, along with many others, has been charged before the International Crimes Tribunal. She also continues to face allegations and legal proceedings involving financial irregularities and abuse of power. In one case, she has been sentenced to death. The speed with which the trial was conducted has raised questions: was the verdict truly intended to punish her, or was it primarily aimed at preventing her from returning, at least for the time being?
Demands, threats, and public outcry continue over bringing Sheikh Hasina back to Dhaka to enforce the court's judgment. Yet it remains unclear how that could actually be accomplished. It is evident that the issue will remain a matter of political contention for quite some time.
It is difficult to imagine that a fugitive sentenced to death while abroad would voluntarily return home, appear before a court, and calmly submit to execution. More often, such defendants return only after reaching a confidential understanding, and are eventually acquitted through the legal process. It is therefore unclear what the state''s actual position is regarding Hasina. It is also an open question whether she actually wishes to return to Bangladesh.
After Sheikh Hasina left the country, the subsequent Yunus government revoked her red diplomatic passport. At present, she does not possess a valid Bangladeshi passport. As a result, she would need a travel pass to return to Bangladesh. Whether such a travel pass is issued is at the discretion of the government. She would have to obtain it from the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi. If the government were to issue the travel pass, she would be able to return to the country.
However, since an arrest warrant has already been issued against her, Sheikh Hasina would be arrested upon her arrival in Bangladesh after travelling on such a pass.
Lawyer Manzill Murshid told BBC Bangla that, under the Supreme Court Rules, Hasina could still file an appeal by submitting a condolation application explaining why she had failed to appeal within the prescribed time. The fact that she has remained abroad for security reasons and was therefore unable to return would, he said, constitute reasonable grounds for the delay. Once the court begins hearing the appeal, Hasina''s lawyers would first seek a stay of the sentence. Such a stay would likely be granted, after which the substantive appeal would be heard. If Sheikh Hasina files an appeal, her death sentence would be stayed.
Demands, threats, and public outcry continue over bringing Sheikh Hasina back to Dhaka to enforce the court's judgment. Yet it remains unclear how that could actually be accomplished. It is evident that the issue will remain a matter of political contention for quite some time.
Sheikh Hasina will return only when she is satisfied about her personal security and future rehabilitation. That implies that the current balance of political power would have changed by then. The question is: how long will that take - months, or years?
* Mohiuddin Ahmad is a writer and researcher
* The views expressed here are those of the author.
* This article appeared in Bangla in Prothom Alo print and online and has been translated by Ayesha Kabir for Prothom Alo English Online