New Delhi: Sheikh Hasina is likely to extend her stay in India as she awaits approval from the UK for asylum, according to sources.
The United Kingdom has so far not granted asylum to the former Prime Minister of Bangladesh who resigned after facing a military coup in Dhaka on Monday.
Hasina sought asylum in the UK amid political unrest in the country triggered in the wake of violent protests against the government’s new job quota move.
Hasina Quits After Dhaka Under Turmoil
Hasina resigned and fled the country after hundreds of people were killed in a crackdown on demonstrations against job quotas and swelled into a movement demanding her ouster.
She landed in Agartala, India on Monday evening and later landed at Hindon Air Base in Ghaziabad near Delhi. Amid Hasina’s arrival in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a crucial meeting with the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) in the wake of unrest in Bangladesh. He was joined by other members of the CCS, including Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Hundreds stormed into the opulent grounds of the presidential residence, looting furniture and TVs. A video showed one man balancing a red velvet, gilt-edged chair on his head while another held an armful of vases.
Elsewhere in Dhaka, protesters climbed atop a statue of Hasina’s father, state founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and began chiselling away at the head with an axe.
Following her flight into exile, Hasina’s son Sajeeb Wazed Joy in a conversation with BBC said that Hasina was “so disappointed that after all her hard work, for a minority to rise up against her.”
He added that she would not attempt to mount a political comeback.
Earlier, army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman announced Hasina’s resignation in a televised address to the nation and said an interim government would be formed.
“The country is going through a revolutionary period.”
(Inputs from agencies)
BREAKING: Sheikh Hasina’s Stay in India May Extend as She Awaits UK Asylum Decision, Say Sources world-news World News | Latest International Global World News | Todays Breaking News Headlines
