Fleeing Sheikh Hasina Lands In Ghaziabad, Meets Indian Officials

NEW DELHI, (ANI/IANS) – Bangladesh leader Sheikh Hasina landed at the Hindon Air Base in Ghaziabad on August 5, hours after resigning as the country’s Prime Minister and leaving Dhaka en route to Delhi.

Hasina arrived in India in a military transport plane of Bangladesh Air Force as thousands of protesters stormed and vandalized ‘Ganabhaban’ – the official residence of the Prime Minister in Dhaka.

Several reports cited that she will be leaving for London soon.

The house of Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal was also reportedly set on fire in Dhanmondi, an upscale area of the Bangladesh capital.

As Hasina left for India, Bangladesh Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman confirmed the news of her resignation and said that an interim government will be formed soon to run the country.

 The Army chief also said he will meet President Mohammed Shahabuddin soon to chart the future course of action.

It was reported that over 100 people were killed and more than 1,000 injured in the clashes that took place between police and the protesters on August 4.

The students had been protesting a 30 per cent reservation in government jobs for relatives of freedom fighters who wrested independence for Bangladesh from Pakistan in a bloody civil war in 1971 in which, according to Dhaka officials, three million people were killed in the genocide by Pakistani troops and their supporters.

After the Supreme Court slashed the reservations to 5 per cent, student leaders put the protests on hold, but the demonstrations flared up again because the students said the government ignored their call to release all their leaders, making the resignation of PM Hasina their primary demand.

Hasina held discussions with National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval on the present situation in Bangladesh and her future course of action at the Hindon Air Base in Ghaziabad on August 5.

Indian Air Force has put its personnel on alert in every eastern sector in view of the present developments.

India is providing security to her, and she is being moved to a safe location, according to sources. Security has been heightened outside the Bangladesh High Commission in Delhi.

“As of now, the situation is normal at the border. Due to the curfew in Bangladesh, there are restrictions on traffic movement at Integrated Check Posts along the India-Bangladesh border,” a senior BSF officer said.