The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on August 8 said that it doesn’t have any update on former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s plan of staying in India following her hurried departure from her country.
In a weekly update, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the situation is still evolving as far as Bangladesh is concerned.
Hasina was forced to step down as Prime Minister on August 5 as student protests over job quota turned violent and led to loss of lives. The former PM was given a 45-minute ultimatum by the Bangladesh Army to step down following which she was forced to flee to India for safety along with her sister.
Hasina is expected to stay in Delhi for a “little while” and is looking for asylum in other nations, according to reports.
When asked about India giving political asylum to the former Bangladesh PM, Jaiswal said, “Our EAM has already explained the approval for former PM Sheikh Hasina to come to India was given at short notice.”
We do not have any update on her plan, the MEA spokesperson said on queries to when Hasina will leave India.
Replying to any possibility of threat to investments made by India in Bangladesh and impact on India's influence in the Bay of Bengal, Jaiswal said that India is engaged with authorities in Dhaka. “We have an evolving situation before us. As a close friend of the people of Bangladesh, it is our understanding that we want the restoration of peace and stability in the country as soon as possible so that normal life can begin... and we can take the interest of the people of Bangladesh forward...” he added.
An angry mob on August 5 breached Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s official residence, Ganabhaban, shortly after she was forced to flee from the country. The mob ignored a military curfew to march through the country’s capital, Dhaka. Crowds waved flags as some demonstrators danced on top of a parked tank in the capital Dhaka. Footage from local television channels captured scenes of people ransacking the building, taking food items like chicken, fish, vegetables as well as furniture.
Visuals also showed protesters vandalising the statue of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the nation’s founding leader and a revered figure in Bangladesh, and also the father of former PM Sheikh Hasina.
In a shocking turn of events, Bangladesh has been plunged into chaos as Islamist extremists have taken advantage of the political turmoil to unleash a wave of terror and violence against the Hindu community. Reports are pouring in from across the country of Islamist mobs attacking Hindu homes, burning them to the ground, and abducting women in a horrific descent into anarchy.
Islamist groups have seized the opportunity to target the Hindu minority, who have long been subjected to discrimination and persecution in the Muslim-majority nation.