Trouble mounts for Sheikh Hasina as Bangladesh Court declares her absconding, CID issues notice in newspapers

New Delhi: The troubles of former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina continue to mount. The Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Court has declared her absconding. Sheikh Hasina, along with 260 others, has been declared absconding in a treason case filed this year. Bangladesh’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) issued a notice in two national newspapers directing all accused to appear in court by November 11.

Sheikh Hasina is currently in Delhi

Sheikh Hasina, once the most prominent figure in Bangladeshi politics, is currently living in Delhi. She is the same Hasina who held power for 15 years, the same Hasina who was praised for economic growth and then accused of dictatorship. In August 2024, when a student protest uprooted the government, she left Dhaka by helicopter and fled to India(BHARAT). Now, the country is being run by an interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus. He has promised elections next year.

A few days back, while talking to the media after a long time, she said she is free in Delhi but also cautious because her family history is bloody. Her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and three brothers were killed in a military coup. Hasina claims that banning the Awami League is an attempt to silence the public, and that if the party is barred from contesting elections, millions of voters will boycott the elections.

‘Breathing in open air of Delhi’

In an interview with Reuters, Hasina said she lives freely in Delhi. People sometimes even see her strolling in Lodi Gardens, accompanied by two or three security personnel.

She says she enjoys her freedom, but “caution” is her compulsion. Fear is ingrained in her heart. The 1975 military coup wiped out her entire family. She herself was abroad at the time, and that’s why she survived. She repeatedly refers to family, saying, “The country is bigger than a family.”

In her words, “I want to go home. But only when there’s a legitimate government and the rule of law.” Hasina’s political career in Dhaka ended due to a student protest. Youth anger over the “quota system” in recruitment turned violent. The mob didn’t even spare the Prime Minister’s residence.