 "Sheikh Hasina is in India: Why Bangladesh’s embattled leader turned to New Delhi in her moment of crisis")
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned on Monday (August 5), ending her 15-year rule. Bangladesh Army chief General Waker-Us-Zaman said in a televised address that the 76-year-old leader had left the country, paving the way for the formation of an interim government.
Hasina fled in a military helicopter with her sister Sheikh Rehana. The duo has landed at
Ghaziabad’s Hindon Airport in a C-130 transport aircraft, sources told ANI.
The political upheaval in Bangladesh comes as thousands of protesters ignored a military curfew and stormed her official residence. Deadly student protests have gripped the country for more than a month over the job quota system.
Let’s take a closer look.
Hasina’s ties to India
The embattled leader has historical ties to India. Her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was a close friend of the late Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi, who had staunchly backed the liberation of East Pakistan (present Bangladesh) from West Pakistan.
According to David Rusnok, a Senior Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), Mujibur, who led the 1971 Liberation War, always “admired” India. Bangladesh’s father of the nation had said in a speech on February 16, 1972, “I have no doubt that India, our next-door neighbour, will proudly march on as the largest democracy with secularism and socialism at home and non-alignment in international relations.”
In 1975, Mujibur and most of his family members were assassinated in a military coup. Hasina and her younger sister survived as they were abroad at the time.
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View AllIndia gave shelter to Hasina after the death of her father. She spent six years in Delhi as she could not return to her country. Hasina’s friendly relations with the Gandhi family have been on display several times. In 2010, the then Congress-led UPA government had bestowed the Indira Gandhi Peace Prize on the Bangladeshi leader.
Speaking to Telegraph India, former foreign secretary Krishnan Srinivasan, who had also served as the Indian high commissioner in Dhaka, said, “Hasina owes the Gandhi family a lot. She escaped assassination in 1975 as she was in West Germany with her sister Rehana.”
“As she could not return to Bangladesh after the tragedy, she came to India with her family and became a guest of the government. Her scientist husband, MA Wazed Miah, was engaged in research in the Atomic Energy Commission of India.”
New Delhi has been Hasina’s “biggest ally” for years, noted BBC. She has maintained close ties to India since she was first elected to power in 1996.
In January this year, Hasina called India a “trusted friend”. As Bangladesh held elections, she said in a message to New Delhi, ‘‘We are very lucky. India is our trusted friend. During our Liberation War, they supported us. After 1975, when we lost our whole family, they gave us shelter. Our best wishes to the people of India."
While Hasina has had a natural comfort with the Congress leadership, she continued a strong relationship with India even when Narendra Modi came to power in 2014.
In fact, Dhaka’s ties to New Delhi were bolstered under the Modi- Hasina partnership. Their ties were marked by multiple personal interactions and strengthening bilateral relations.
India’s economic relations with Bangladesh have grown, with bilateral trade reaching $15.9 billion last year. After Modi became the PM for a third straight term, Hasina was the first state guest hosted by India on June 21 and 22.
At the time, the two countries pledged to expand “power and energy collaboration” and develop “intra-regional electricity trade”.
New Delhi has closely worked with Dhaka on countering terrorist groups operating out of Bangladesh. Hasina, who was in power in Bangladesh since 2009, stamped out anti-India militant groups in her country, impressing New Delhi.
Hasina has defended Dhaka’s close relationship with Delhi. However, India’s support for her has come under scrutiny, with the opposition and activists in Bangladesh saying New Delhi should back the common people of the country and not a certain party, noted BBC.
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India’s historical friendship with Bangladesh
As East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) rose to free itself from the clutches of West Pakistan in 1971, India offered its full support to the liberation cause.
It was on March 25, 1971 that the Pakistan military began a violent crackdown in Dhaka, East Pakistan. Amid the violence, Awami League Party’s Mujibur Rahman declared independence for Bangladesh, setting off a nine-month-long conflict. After Pakistan’s attacks on 11 Indian airbases in December, the Indian side joined the war.
As the then West Pakistan launched a brutal crackdown on those demanding freedom, millions of Bangladeshis were forced to escape to India, mainly West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura.
Indira Gandhi decided to go to war with Pakistan for Bangladesh’s liberation, leading to a third conflict between the two rival nations. It was the courage of the Indian military and Mukti Bahini (freedom fighters) who won Bangladesh its independence.
The 1971 Liberation War defined India’s ties to Bangladesh, which are based on friendship and mutual respect.
What Hasina using India as a passage means
The former Prime Minister of Bangladesh is in India. As per CNN News18, she will be heading to London from Delhi, where she is likely to spend the night.
Hasina coming to India after fleeing Bangladesh signals her close ties to New Delhi. India has historically had warm relations with her and these ties further grew under Modi.
As protests erupted in Bangladesh, India had called it an internal matter of its neighbour. New Delhi’s refusal to condemn the Hasina government was seen as a “tacit support”, as per Indian Express.
Even when the West hit out at Hasina for her government’s crackdown against civil society, opposition and media, India did not waver in its support.
Her arrival in India after being ousted from power shows New Delhi has not forgotten its relations with Hasina and her family.
India will be responsible for her safety until she is on its soil. However, New Delhi knows it cannot give refuge to an embattled leader for long.
With inputs from agencies
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