Multiple forces banded together to bring down Sheikh Hasina’s government in Bangladesh, sources told CNN-News18 on Tuesday. The 76-year-old was forced to resign as Prime Minister and fled Dhaka in a military aircraft to an IAF base in Uttar Pradesh on Monday after weeks-long protests over a job quota blew up.
“She was facing political opponents of rival Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) as well as foreign adversaries,” said a top Indian government source. “They all came together and started a movement which was guided by an invisible hand.”
There were some problems with Hasina’s personal conduct due to arrogance and the anti-incumbency factor too played an important role in her departure from Bangladesh, said the sources.
Hasina won a fourth straight term in January in an election boycotted by the opposition.
“India believes there is still a significant constituency in Bangladesh who feel she has done good work,” said the source. “She didn’t stay and we feel if she resisted, she would have managed but she finally decided to quit. Now army takeover has happened, which will ultimately lead to an interim government and new people will come like banker Muhammad Yunus. We always warned her about the army chief appointment because the present one was favourable for her. But only two candidates were available she finally chose to go against our advice. We are hopeful about our relationship with the new regime in Dhaka. We have to deal with the country, not an individual, and we don’t see any problem.”
The military on Tuesday reshuffled several top generals, demoting some seen as close to Hasina, and sacking Ziaul Ahsan, a commander of the feared and US-sanctioned Rapid Action Battalion paramilitary force.
Ex-prime minister and BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, 78, was also released from years of house arrest, a presidential statement and her party said.
Hasina is currently at Hindon Airbase in Ghaziabad. While she is exploring options for asylum in European countries, reports indicate that the United Kingdom is not prepared to grant her refuge. Sources suggest that her sister, Rehana, who holds British citizenship, may leave for the UK shortly.
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