INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
It was earlier this month, as protests swept Bangladesh and bodies lay on the streets, that prime minister Sheikh Hasina hastily boarded a
She was unaccompanied by any political aides and did not tell any of her senior ministers she was leaving
quickly escalated from student demonstrations on campuses to a nationwide mass revolution, with hundreds of thousands calling for her
removal and the return of democracy
flee on 5 August after protesters stormed her residence was greeted with jubilation across Bangladesh but in the corridors of power in New
She was given refuge in the country once before, in 1975, after her father, the freedom fighter Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was assassinated and
Both in her first term from 1996 to 2001 and then again when she was re-elected in 2009 onwards, Hasina began to grant India influence
through economic and security cooperation, including access to crucial waterways and allowing Indian businesses to do lucrative deals in the
country.In return, India not only turned a blind eye as her regime became increasingly oppressive and autocratic, but Indian officials and
well as pressuring other countries to accept her leadership.According to diplomatic sources, India used its close relationship with the US
to ease pressure on Hasina before the election in early 2024
In the months in the run-up to the election, the US ambassador to Bangladesh, Peter Haas, and the US assistant secretary of state for south
Asia, Donald Lu, began a concerted campaign to try to ensure the polls were free and fair.However, after intervention by India, the US
Hasina was easily returned to power amid widespread allegations of rigging.View image in fullscreenPeople gather around the residence of
Bangladeshi prime minister in Dhaka on 5 August
Photograph: EPAThe unconventional nature of the relationship between the two nations over the past 15 years gradually became a source of
Shafqat Munir, a senior fellow at the Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies.In a view echoed by several analysts, Munir called
An interim government, led by the leading economist and Nobel prize winner Muhammad Yunus, is now in place, promising widespread reforms and
shadow over the India-Bangladesh relationship is the ongoing presence of Hasina in India
Though her family say it is only temporary and there has yet to be an official extradition request from Bangladesh for her return, there are
growing calls from activists and political opponents for her to be brought back.More than 100 cases alleging the former prime minister
charges of genocide and crimes against humanity in connection with the killings that took place during the recent protests
The Bangladesh government has also revoked the diplomatic passport that Hasina used to travel to India.This week, the Bangladesh Nationalist
party (BNP) leader, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, made a direct plea to India to send Hasina back, and alleged that Hasina was using her safe
myopic policy with Bangladesh by putting all their eggs in one basket with Hasina and her party, instead of having a state-to-state
released by Modi after a phone conversation with the US president, Joe Biden
While the US readout of the interaction made no mention of Bangladesh, the Indian side said the leaders had discussed the need for the
This article first appeared/also appeared in theguardian.com
