Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in India for the last 24 hours, has not sought asylum “anywhere”, her son categorically told NDTV today, brushing off speculation. Ms Hasina, 76, was contemplating retirement anyway and now she will retire from politics and is likely to divide her time between her family members, added Sajeeb Wazed, who is based in Washington.
Asked about multiple reports about UK’s “silence” her request for asylum and revocation of her visa by the US, Mr Wazed said, “The reports about her requesting asylum are incorrect. She has not requested asylum anywhere. So the question of UK or US not responding yet is not true”.
Asked about the US Visa revocation, he said, “There has been no such discussion with the US”.
Mr Wazed, who made headlines yesterday saying his mother will quit politics, reiterated it today. “She is done with politics in Bangladesh… my mother was planning to retire anyway, this was going to be her last term,” he said.
The family, he added, is now planning to spend time together – where and how is yet to be worked out. “I am in Washington, my aunt is in London, my sister lives in Delhi, so we don’t know, she might travel between the places,” he said.
Ms Hasina’s aircraft provided by the Bangladesh armed forces had landed at the Indian Air Force base in Hindon near Delhi yesterday, shortly after taking off from Dhaka.
“At very short notice, she requested approval to come for the moment to India. We simultaneously received a request for flight clearance from the Bangladesh authorities. She arrived yesterday evening in Delhi,” foreign minister S Jaishankar has said.
With the government yet to announce how long she will be staying, there has been much speculation about her final destination. A number of names have come up, including US, UK and even Finland.
Earlier today, Mr Jaishankar had described the situation in Dhaka as “evolving” and expressed concern about the law and order situation there.
The Border Security Force is on high alert across India’s 4,096-km border with Bangladesh, parts of which are porous. Indian Railways has stopped trains to Bangladesh and most carriers have cancelled flights to Dhaka.
