In lungi and wheelchair, ex-Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid flies out to Thailand amid murder case and regime collapse
Nine months after the dramatic toppling of the
Sheikh Hasina
government in a
student-led uprising
, former
Bangladesh President
Abdul Hamid
has quietly fled the country, reportedly donning a lungi and wheeled through the airport in a wheelchair in the dead of night.
According to Dhaka Post, Hamid boarded a Thai Airways flight at 3:05 am Thursday, accompanied by his wife, brother, and brother-in-law. The image of the once-powerful President leaving in a humble lungi has gone viral, captured by a security camera and now emblematic of the fall of the Awami League.
Hamid, who served two terms as President, is reportedly facing a murder charge. But unlike many top Awami League leaders who were arrested at airports or while crossing borders, he appears to have been allowed to leave the country unimpeded.
'According to Articles 34 and 102 of the Constitution, no Bangladeshi citizen can be prevented from travelling unless there is a specific ban from the court. We have not received any instructions to ban him. There was no request or application from the police to detain or arrest him in any case,' an airport official told Dhaka Post.
Since Sheikh Hasina fled to India following the August 5 uprising, several senior Awami League figures have either been jailed or disappeared. The new interim government is being led by
Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus
.
Hamid has not been seen in public since the transition.
Meanwhile, a political counter-wave is building. Former Prime Minister
Khaleda Zia
returned to Dhaka last week after medical treatment in London. Her return turned into a massive street rally as thousands of
BNP supporters
lined the roads from the airport to her residence in Gulshan. She was accompanied by her daughters-in-law and flown home on a special plane sent by Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
Zia's son Tarique Rahman, who has been living in London for 17 years due to numerous cases filed during Hasina's rule, now leads the BNP from abroad.
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