Sheikh Hasina’s plan to travel to UK hits roadblock, may be in India for a few days

PTI, Aug 6, 2024, 7:56 PM IST

Bangladesh Embassy Credit: PTI

New Delhi: Former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s plan to travel to London has hit a roadblock over some “uncertainties” and she is unlikely to move out of India for the next couple of days, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

Hasina, who landed at the Hindon airbase on Monday in a C-130J military transport aircraft hours after resigning as the prime minister, has been shifted to an unspecified location under tight security, they said.

The former Bangladesh prime minister, accompanied by her sister Sheikh Rehana, planned to leave for London from India to take temporary refuge but the option is not being pursued now. This is after the UK government indicated that she may not get legal protection against any possible probe into the massive violent protests in her country, they said.

The Awami League leader planned to travel to London through India and her aides informed Indian authorities about it before she landed in Hindon, the people cited above said.

Hasina decided to travel to London as Rehana’s daughter Tulip Siddiq is a member of the British Parliament. Tulip is economic secretary to the Treasury and Labour MP for Hampstead and Highgate.

In a statement, British foreign secretary David Lammy said in London on Monday that Bangladesh has seen unprecedented levels of violence and tragic loss of life in the last two weeks and people of the country “deserve a full and independent UN-led investigation into the events”.

An expert familiar with the British government’s policy on providing refuge said the “the UK has a proud record of providing protection for people who need it”.

“However, there is no provision within our Immigration Rules for someone to be allowed to travel to the UK to seek asylum or temporary refuge,” he said.

“Those who need international protection should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach ‘“ that is the fastest route to safety,” he said.

The people in the know said Hasina has apprised New Delhi about her possible future steps. It is also learnt that Hasina has family members in Finland as well and that is why she also contemplated leaving for the northern European country.

While saying that Hasina’s travel plans have hit certain issues and she may stay in the country for the next couple of days, the people also described the situation as dynamic with no definitive path or clarity on the matter.

The 76-year-old who ruled the South Asian country with an iron fist for 15 years, resigned as the prime minister following the massive protests that initially began as an agitation against a job quota scheme but weeks later morphed into a mass movement demanding her ouster from power.

The controversial quota system provided for 30 per cent reservations in civil services jobs for the families of veterans who fought the 1971 liberation war.

Hasina’s Awami League retained power in the parliamentary election in January that was boycotted by the opposition parties.

The former Bangladesh prime minister left her official residence Ganabhavan in a military chopper to an airbase, the sources said. From the airbase, she flew into Hindon in a C-130 military transport aircraft of the Bangladesh Air Force, they said.