There has been much speculation about Sheikh Hasina’s whereabouts in different local and international media since she fled Dhaka and landed at Hindon airbase near New Delhi, India by a Bangladesh Air Force aircraft along with her younger sister Sheikh Rehana on 5 August following the ouster of her government in the face of a student-led mass uprising.

Within a few days when her request to enter the United Kingdom and other European countries was refused as per reports published in several Indian media, there was a discussion about whether she would take refuge in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), the United Arab Emirates (UAE) or Qatar as India was supposed to be a stopover for her.

Citing a number of reliable sources, Dhaka’s daily Manab Zamin first ran a story titled, “Sheikh Hasina leaving India” on October 4. The tabloid claimed that the United States wanted to know how Sheikh Hasina is staying in Delhi. 

“In response, India said that she will go to one of the countries in the Middle East in a very short time. This news has also been informed to the government in Dhaka,” it reported.

Two days after Manab Zamin’s report, the online platform of Dhaka’s satellite channel Nagorik TV published a report titled “Hasina left India, took refuge in Ajman, United Arab Emirates (?)”. Later, Daily Kaler Kantho, Janakantha, Ittefaq and several other media outlets published similar stories.

The discussion on Sheikh Hasina’s change of location to Ajman, a city in the UAE, came to the fore as media houses tried to calculate a few things according to their equations. A few weeks ago much-talked-about Awami League leader Shamim Osman was seen in front of the shrine of Sufi saint Nizamuddin Awlia in Delhi. Later, he was spotted in Ajman. As the influential Awami League leader has a close relationship with Sheikh Hasina and he owns a house in Ajman, media speculated that Sheikh Hasina would fly for the UAE and Shamim Osman would ensure her security there.

Amid this discussion, Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain on Tuesday said the government is not sure about the whereabouts of former Sheikh Hasina though they checked in New Delhi and the UAE.

“We couldn’t be sure about her position. We inquired in Delhi and the United Arab Emirates. Nobody could confirm us,” he told reporters, adding that like the media they have also seen claims of her travel to the UAE.

Referring to the media reports, the adviser said she is possibly in Ajman but they have not been successful in their attempts to reconfirm it.

Meanwhile, Sheikh Hasina’s son Sajeeb Wazed Joy termed reports published on her mother’s travel to the UAE incorrect.

Talking to a TV channel, he said, “The news that my mother has left India is not true. She is still staying in India.”

The Daily Sun’s correspondents have contacted several officials of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs to know whether Sheikh Hasina has left India since the rumours began spreading. None of them agreed to make any official comment in this regard but confirmed that all news on Sheikh Hasina’s migration to the UAE is speculative.

“India will not force Sheikh Hasina to leave the country until she willingly wants to do so. And if she really leaves India for a third country, we will never hide this,” they said.

They did not say anything about whether Sheikh Hasina is still staying in the safe house operated by the Indian Air Force near Hindon airbase or has been shifted to a secured flat in South Delhi.

Sheikh Hasina, however, in a leaked telephone conversation with one of her junior party men, was found saying that she was staying in neighbouring India so that she could sneak into Bangladesh anytime. Source: Daily Sun.

bd-pratidin/GR