Bangladesh unrest: The recent protests in Bangladesh are an unprecedented moment in the country's history as well as Sheikh Hasina's life, as the 77-year-old leader's 15-year-old reign ended tumultuously when she was forced to flee the country and seek refuge in India. What makes it more dramatic are reports of a rift between the Army, which announced an interim government on Tuesday, and Hasina's administration the night before she fled.
It has now come to light that Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman held a meeting with his generals and decided that troops would not open fire on civilians to enforce a curfew, against Hasina's orders, two serving army officers familiar with the matter told Reuters. Zaman then reached out to Hasina's office, the day before she left, and conveyed that his soldiers would not be able to implement the lockdown she called for, an Indian official briefed on the matter said.
The official said the message was clear in the Army Chief's action - that Hasina no longer had the military's support. This is definitely an unprecedented moment in Hasina's 15-year rule, during which she brokered little dissent before coming to such a chaotic end on Monday. Army spokesman Lt Col Sami Ud Dowla Chowdhury confirmed the Sunday evening discussions, which he described as a regular meeting to take updates after any disturbance.
Uneasiness among Bangladeshi troops
Reuters spoke to ten people familiar with the events of the past week, including four serving army officers and two other informed sources in Bangladesh, to piece together the final 48 hours of Hasina's reign. While Zaman has not publicly explained his decision to withdraw support from Hasina, the escalating protests that killed 469 people in the last few weeks made supporting the ousted PM untenable, as per three officials.
"There was a lot of uneasiness within the troops," said retired Brig. Gen M Sakhawat Hossain. "That is what probably (put) pressure on the chief of army staff, because the troops are out and they are seeing what is happening." Moreover, the Army Chief, who is related to Hasina by marriage as his wife is the ex-PM's cousin, had shown signs of wavering support on Saturday when he sat on an ornate wooden chair and addressed hundreds of uniformed officers in a town hall meeting.
The general declared that lives had to be protected and called on his officers to show patience, said army spokesman Chowdhury. It was the first indication that Bangladesh's army would not forcefully suppress the violent demonstrations, leaving Hasina vulnerable. Retired senior soldiers including Brig. Gen. Mohammad Shahedul Anam Khan even defied the curfew on Monday and took to the streets. "We were not stopped by the army," he said.
Hasina's stay in India 'temporary'
Hasina was holed up inside the Ganabhaban, or "People's Palace", which is the Prime Minister's official residence, while tens and thousands of people protested vociferously to oust the leader. As the situation spiralled out of control, Hasina decided to flee the country after discussing the matter with her sister Sheikh Rehana. They left for India at around lunch time.
While addressing both Houses of the Indian Parliament on Tuesday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said, "Our understanding is that after a meeting with leaders of the security establishment, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina apparently made the decision to resign. At very short notice, she requested approval to come for the moment to India. We simultaneously received a request for flight clearance from Bangladesh authorities. She arrived yesterday evening in Delhi."
Another Indian official said it was "diplomatically" conveyed to Hasina that her stay had to be temporary for fear of negatively impacting Delhi's ties with the next government in Dhaka. The Ministry of External Affairs did not immediately return a request for comment, but the report came after the US revoked Hasina's visa.
After Hasina's father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was assassinated in 1975, Hasina took refuge in India for years and built deep links with her neighbour's political elite. After she took power, relations between India and Bangladesh deepened across several sectors as her Awami League was widely supported by the Hindu community there.
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