Following a dramatic escape via helicopter from her palace in Dhaka during a student-led protest last year, former Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, has been leading a secluded existence in Delhi since August 2024.
Since her removal from power, an interim government headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus has been in charge of the nation, committing to conduct national elections in February 2027, while she continues to live an unremarkable life in India’s capital, New Delhi.
The protest and the subsequent storming of her Dhaka palace served as a harsh reminder of the military coup in 1975, which resulted in the deaths of her father and three brothers while she was overseas with her sister.
Hasina’s life in Delhi
Hasina’s existence in exile is tranquil, yet she longs to return. “I would certainly love to go home, provided that the government there is legitimate, the constitution is upheld, and law and order genuinely exists,” she stated to Reuters.
A few months prior, a Reuters journalist observed Hasina enjoying a serene walk through Delhi’s historic Lodhi Garden, accompanied by two individuals who seemed to be her personal security detail. She greeted passersby with a nod as some recognized her.
Last year, reports indicated that Hasina was residing in a secure location within New Delhi’s Lutyens Bungalow Zone, a high-security area that accommodates several former and current Members of Parliament and senior officials. The Indian government arranged her accommodation.
The Print had previously reported that Hasina typically took walks in the nearby Lodhi Garden with a security guard in plain clothes accompanying her.
Hasina reportedly sought refuge at India’s Hindon airbase on August 5, 2024, aboard a Bangladesh Air Force aircraft, accompanied by a few close associates.
She remained at the base for two days, during which she met with National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and senior military officials before being relocated to a safer location with sufficient security measures.
Election Boycott
Millions of supporters of Bangladesh’s Awami League are set to boycott the national election next year in protest against Hasina’s prohibition on participating in the polls. Despite her absence from the country and her ongoing trial in absentia, Hasina has maintained in interviews that she is dedicated to “restoring democracy” in Bangladesh.
“Only free, fair, and inclusive elections can heal the country,” she stated in an interview with the independent newspaper in the UK, while also asserting in other discussions that the next government must possess electoral legitimacy.
“Millions of people support the Awami League, and as it stands, they will not cast their votes. It is impossible to disenfranchise millions if you desire a functional political system,” she remarked, dismissing any government formed without her party’s involvement in the electoral process.
In the meantime, Bangladesh’s interim government chief, Muhammad Yunus, expressed concerns on Wednesday regarding potential efforts “from home and abroad” to disrupt the upcoming general elections by excluding the deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League from the contest.
“Numerous forces, both domestic and international, will attempt to sabotage the election. Many influential entities, not just minor ones, will seek to obstruct it. Unexpected attacks may occur,” Yunus’s press secretary, Shafiqul Alam, reported him as saying during a high-level meeting focused on election readiness.
Chief Adviser Yunus indicated at the meeting that the election will be “challenging” due to the likelihood of “various types of propaganda being executed in a coordinated manner from both within and outside the country.”
