Former Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina is now reportedly awaiting a response from the UK on her request for political asylum after leaving the country on a military helicopter due to violent protests in the country.
Sheikh Hasina, 76, arrived in neighboring India on Monday (August 5) after angry protesters stormed her official residence shortly before her departure. They were demanding Hasina’s resignation.
After protests against the quota system in government jobs fueled anger against Sheikh Hasina’s government, the protesters faced a crackdown by government forces, in which more than 400 people lost their lives.
According to the report of the Indian broadcaster CNN News 18, after landing in the northeastern city of Agartala, Sheikh Hasina arrived in New Delhi with her sister and requested political asylum from the British government.
According to the report, Sheikh Hasina has had to extend her stay in New Delhi as she has not yet received any response from the UK on political asylum.
Sheikh Hasina is accompanied by her younger sister Sheikh Rehana, who holds British citizenship. Sheikh Rihanna’s daughter Tulip Siddiq has been elected as a member of the British Parliament on behalf of the Labor Party.
Britain’s response to the Bangladeshi leader’s request has been mixed as British Foreign Secretary David Lemmy called for a UN-monitored investigation into the violent protests and tragic loss of life in Bangladesh.
Foreign Secretary David Lemmy said in a statement that the UK and Bangladesh have deep people-to-people links and shared commonwealth values.
He said: ‘All parties now need to work together to end the violence, restore peace, de-escalate tensions and prevent further loss of life.’
“The people of Bangladesh deserve a full and independent UN-led investigation into the events of the past few weeks,” he added.
Describing the violence in Bangladesh as ‘unprecedented’, he also expressed Britain’s good intentions for Bangladesh to reach a peaceful and democratic future.
However, the British and Indian governments have not given any official statement on this development.
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Retaining a third of civil service jobs in the form of quotas reserved for generations of veterans of the 1971 ‘war of independence’ with Pakistan was the toughest challenge to Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year rule.
The protests, which began at the end of June, turned violent when Sheikh Hasina’s government ordered protesters to be shot on sight across the country, banned communications and imposed a nationwide curfew.
After the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the students last month, most of the allotted quota was withdrawn but protests continued as people demanded accountability for those responsible for the deaths of the protesters.
Another 135 people were killed in police firing, clashes and arson incidents across Bangladesh on Monday, the Dhaka Tribune reported, as hundreds of thousands took part in a march to Dhaka led by protest leaders.
There were also reports of increasing attacks on Hindu minorities, along with large-scale incidents of looting, vandalism and arson in some parts of the country.
The US government praised the Bangladeshi military for showing ‘restraint’ on its behalf and called for a democratic interim government.
Anti-government protesters climb over a statue of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of Bangladesh’s founder and ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, in Dhaka on August 5, 2024 (AFP)
A White House spokesman said on Monday: ‘The United States has long emphasized respect for democratic rights in Bangladesh, and we continue to support the formation of an inclusive and transitional government. We appreciate the restraint of the army that they have shown today.’
Meanwhile, the European Union also emphasized on the process of ‘orderly and peaceful transition’ towards the election of a new government democratically in the country.
Sheikh Hasina’s son Sajib Wajid and her allies have said that she will not return to politics.
His son told the BBC: ‘He’s over 70 and despite all his hard work, he’s frustrated by a minority group protesting against him. I think they have shied away (from politics).’
Sheikh Hasina is known as the ‘Iron Lady’ of Bangladesh who spent 20 years in power after first coming to power in 1996.
This is the second time she has been forced into exile in her life. She first went into exile in 1975 after the murder of her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founder of Bangladesh, mother and three brothers.
