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News18
07-08-2025
- Politics
- News18
Bangladesh's Silent Exodus: Hundreds Of Awami League Insiders 'Living Like Ghosts' Across India
Last Updated: They are quietly tucked into apartments across Delhi, Kolkata, and Bengaluru, while surviving on borrowed time, borrowed hope, and borrowed visas They once held ministerial portfolios, roamed around with police or military escorts, and shaped the power corridors of Dhaka. Today, they are quietly tucked into apartments across Delhi, Kolkata, and Bengaluru, while surviving on borrowed time, borrowed hope, and borrowed visas. Over 200 Awami League leaders, ex-MPs, senior police officers, former diplomats, and their families are living in India—jobless, visa-stretched, and watching their savings disappear. They are facing greater uncertainty than before following the Indian government's decision to deport the illegal or undocumented Bangladeshi migrants. With the cloud of uncertainty looming large, they have one question—what happens next and when? It is a story that has unfolded in whispers in guesthouses, private clinics, school admission offices, and embassy waiting rooms. Over 200 members of Bangladesh's once-mighty and ruling Awami League ecosystem, including former ministers, MPs, high-ranking police officers, diplomats who were close to ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and leaders of the student wing, Chhatra League, have been living in India for over a year now, since August 5, 2024, when Hasina decided to fly out of Dhaka in the face of violent protests followed by a public rampage. They are not able to return to their homeland. The reasons are many, but the core reality is singular: they fear what lies back home. News18 has spoken with several such Awami League members and some former officers who served in Sheikh Hasina's government to understand their side of the story that unfolded over the past year. They are living in undisclosed locations, under the guidance of some senior officers of the government or certain politicians in respective states. It has been an arrangement of sympathetic co-existence for them. From moving with police escorts to hiding in shadows Since Sheikh Hasina's political fortunes took a dramatic turn, especially after the controversial 2024 election and the mounting crackdown on dissent and student protests, many of her close associates have trickled across the border into India. However, they were not in formal exile, not as refugees, not as asylum seekers, but on extended medical visas, tourist visas, and diplomatic passports with rapidly approaching expiry dates. Many are holed up in apartments in cities like Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Bengaluru and on the outskirts, as their political clout is now reduced to silent networking in diplomatic, bureaucratic, and political backchannels. Without work permits, employment visas, or political clarity, they live a ghost-like existence– jobless, stateless, and financially strained. Their children are not getting admission to schools or local institutions. Some families have moved more than once within India to avoid detection or local scrutiny. 'We fled to India just to survive while we saw our houses being set on fire and our relatives and workers being lynched. We thought that we would be able to return in a few months, as and when the situation stabilised. It has been over a year. There is no direction from the party chief (Hasina). And we are living like ghosts," says a former Awami League parliamentarian, requesting anonymity. 'Our bank accounts in Bangladesh are frozen. We could take some cash with us while some well-wishers helped. Currently, we are surviving on friends' help and whatever little we have saved." An ex-minister of Hasina's cabinet said, 'Apa (Hasina) met a few senior functionaries a few days back. We have to wait until the elections. The party wants us to return and prepare the ground for Apa to come back. But the situation is hostile; if we try to return, we will be immediately arrested." Another senior Awami League leader said he has been struggling to get his 4-year-old daughter admitted to a school. 'No school, not even for money, agreed to admit her. They need certain documents, which we cannot provide. Our whole family is on a medical visa. We keep pleading with the Indian officials to extend it every time," he said. Officials in exile, asylum options run dry At least 30 senior police officers across ranks and intelligence officials are also in the mix. Some had worked closely with the regime's internal security architecture and now fear political retribution or criminal trials if they return. Then there are the diplomats, at least half a dozen of them, who were once part of Sheikh Hasina's global charm offensive. Their diplomatic immunity means little now. Most are looking for third-country asylum options quietly, some via the UN, others through private legal channels. top videos View all 'India, for now, remains a reluctant host. They are sympathetic to our situation, but the government cannot offer anything further. We do not know what we have in store. They have done a lot for us, and we cannot complain. There has been no formal asylum offered because they do not have such policies. Some of our peers are trying to get some arrangement in some European countries," said a former diplomat, who was once in Hasina's core team. For the Awami League's extended political family now scattered across Indian metros, this is not just a pause. One former minister put it grimly: 'For us, there's no light at the end of this tunnel; it seems like a growing darkness we were not prepared for." Get breaking news, in-depth analysis, and expert perspectives on everything from geopolitics to diplomacy and global trends. Stay informed with the latest world news only on News18. Download the News18 App to stay updated! tags : Asylum Awami League bangladesh Sheikh Hasina visa view comments Location : New Delhi, India, India First Published: August 07, 2025, 08:30 IST News world Bangladesh's Silent Exodus: Hundreds Of Awami League Insiders 'Living Like Ghosts' Across India Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
India Today
05-08-2025
- Politics
- India Today
Fall of Sheikh Hasina: An uprising, urban guerilla tactic or army inaction?
On August 5 last year, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina boarded a military helicopter in the nick of time to flee from Bangladesh as lakhs of protesters headed towards her official residence in Dhaka. Such was the haste that she couldn't even record an address to the nation that she wanted to. But how did the regime of Hasina, who ruled with an iron fist for 15 years, crumble within weeks?advertisementWas it more than just a student-led uprising? Did urban guerilla-style attacks aided by Hasina's political rivals and the hands-off approach of the military play as big a role as the agitation itself in pulling down the Awami League-led government?Bangladeshi political experts and activists in Dhaka and those in self-imposed exile describe how it was a perfect storm that combined all the above to blow away the regime that had the backing of the security and intelligence apparatus and foot soldiers of her Awami League and its student wing, the Chhatra League. The official death toll of the mass protest, which saw security personnel opening fire on unarmed protesters and retaliatory attacks on the police, stands at 1,400. Experts suggest the toll to be much political analyst Shafquat Rabbee says it was a "confluence of fortuitous events and conditions that all came together, ending up in a spectacular collapse for Hasina the tyrant".Rabbee talks about how the videos of brutal killings by the security forces got all sections of Bangladeshi society to take to the streets against Hasina.A political commentator from Dhaka, requesting anonymity, tells India Today Digital that anti-Hasina forces had cultivated people for years within the administration. As the students-led agitation peaked, those officials stopped functioning, bringing about a total collapse of the state parties like the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Jamaat-e-Islami, which were suppressed by the Hasina regime, too played their part, the experts agree. The students wouldn't have lasted even a single night without the support of the parties' street-fighters, who have protected them with their experience of taking on the police political activist and writer Faham Abdus Salam says the attack on the police personnel revealed the movement had moved to the next phase, and that the Hasina government had lost its fear last nail in the Hasina regime's coffin was Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman's declaration that the forces wouldn't shoot at protesters. This came as a booster shot for the crowd, which now had students, common people and members of political and Islamist also reveals that some within the military establishment harboured thoughts of preparing a guerilla force if Hasina hung on to power beyond August year on, as the haze somewhat lifts, the July-August movement can be divided into three distinct phases, which reveal the role of the political parties and the military in the ouster of Hasina. Till now, the July-August movement was perceived as only a student-spearheaded are the three turning points that unfolded in succession:1: Anti-quota agitation by students turns into a single-point demand seeking Hasina's resignation2: Protest across Bangladesh after police fire at protesters, cops targeted in guerilla-style attacks3: Army goes for a hands-off approach, with protests even at Defence Officers Housing Societies A vandalised police station is in Dhaka on August 6, a day after Hasina fled the country. After Hasina's departure, a wave of violence erupted with several police stations ransacked and officers targeted in retaliatory attacks. (AFP Image) BRUTAL KILLING VIDEOS FANNED ANTI-HASINA IRESheikh Hasina returned to power for a fourth consecutive term in January 2024. The election was boycotted by the BNP, the main opposition party, and was alleged to have been extremely rigged and were tired of the corrupt regime, but enforced disappearances by the establishment forced people to stay silent. The brutal Aynaghar torture or the fear of it forced some of the best brains to flee Bangladesh. The government was seen to be working just for Hasina cronies and Awami this, the Bangladesh High Court's decision in June to reinstate a quota that would reserve 30% of the civil service jobs for descendants of 1971 War veterans, seen as Hasina backers, lit the took to the streets in a country where a government job is seen by millions as the only way out of poverty. The protests gained momentum in July, and Hasina's branding the students "Razakar", a highly despicable term in Bangladesh, acted like a catalyst. The protests spread across mid-July, Chhatra League members, along with the police, were fighting the protesters on the streets of Dhaka. On July 16, six protesters, including 25-year-old student Abu Sayed, were killed by police firing."For the Hasina government, after July 17, it was all about crushing the movement. People retaliated, and then the regime started killing people indiscriminately," says Salam, who has been living in Australia in a self-imposed exile for a image of Abu Sayed inviting bullets with open arms went on to define the protests. Videos of brutal attacks and killings of protesters unnerved all sections of Bangladeshi society."Urban guerilla tactics work by creating victims, and fighting the war around them," says the political commentator from tried to buy peace by promising a probe, but the situation had spiralled out of control. On August 3, the Students Against Discrimination came out with a single-point demand -- Sheikh Hasina's organic protests do not last beyond days without support from established political or civil structures. That the students-led agitation and the students themselves survived and fought for weeks pointed at the role of political parties and the military in the fall of Hasina. A student of English literature, Abu Sayed defiantly stood with a stick in his hand before he was shot and killed at close range by the police. (Image: Social Media) advertisementMASTANS OF BNP, JAMAAT PROVIDED STREET MUSCLEPolitical parties like the BNP and the Jamaat, facing political suppression, had been emaciated. Such was the situation, that the Jamaat didn't manage to even unlock its sealed office in Dhaka over the students' protest gave the parties the much-needed oxygen, and they used the students' agitation to launch a full-scale attack on the Hasina apparatus."After July 19, police were attacked not by university students, but by BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami activists and daily-waged labourers who had joined in the protests by then," Salam tells India Today evidence of that, the activist points to a video of protesters chasing away a team of security personnel in five vans, which went viral."You can see one person starts running at the police, and then a crowd follows him and starts chasing the cops. The person who first started chasing the cops was later identified as a BNP member. This was the case in most instances. Those leading the attacks against cops were either BNP or Jamaat members or daily-waged labourers," says says among all the political parties, the BNP counts the highest number of dead activists during the July-August agitation for a reason."Parties like the BNP had seasoned leadership who were battle-hardened and knew how to survive and fight government machinery. The young student leaders brought political innocence into the play and attracted the masses, and the BNP and the Jamaat provided street credibility and muscle," Rabbee tells India Today political parties like the BNP also arranged physical safety and safe houses for the student leaders when they were on the says the Hasina government, which had dealt with online activists, was spooked by two things -- shut down of remittances by Bangladeshi expats and attacks on police stations."People attacking the cops was an escalation that showed that the movement was in the next phase. The retaliation was evidence that the fear of the Hasina regime was gone, and it could be toppled," explains goes on to show that it wasn't the students who were mostly involved in the street warfare was that the worst violence took place after Hasina fled Bangladesh on August 5. There were political reprisal killings in which scores of Awami League and Chhatra League leaders were massacred."Members of Islamist organisations and Jamaat members were at the forefront when it came to attacking cops and Awami League leaders. They followed urban guerilla tactics to bring down the Hasina government, and exact revenge after that," said the Dhaka-based had descended into lawlessness and chaos for days after the fall of the Hasina regime, and the army had to step in. Following Hasina's flight, the Bangladeshi army took control, and oversaw the transition of power amidst the chaos. (AFP Image) BANGLADESH ARMY'S NOT TO SHOOT DECISION WAS GAMECHANGERWaker-Uz-Zaman was appointed Bangladesh Army Chief in June 2024, when the country was already a relative of Hasina, operated with fairness during the entire agitation, according to multiple then, protests had even started in Defence Officers Housing Society areas in Dhaka. This was unprecedented because military officers were pampered by Hasina and their children brought up in relative affluence."Hasina not only took care of the military with unprecedented largesse, but she also changed the Constitution to deter political intervention by the military, making it a crime of high treason," says lower-rung officers and sepoys, like some of the civilian officials, had by then gone into a civil-disobedience mode. That was a result of news of young relatives falling prey to bullets, sources told India Today August 4, with the Hasina government finding itself embattled with millions ready for the long March to Dhaka a day later, a shoot-at-sight curfew was in a meeting with the top Army commanders on August 4, decided that his force would not shoot at protesters. This, and the reports of military officers unwilling to act against protesters earlier, boosted the confidence of the of thousands started pouring into Dhaka at daybreak on August 5. That is when General Zaman visited Hasina and asked her to board the military helicopter and save her life."Ultimately the military had to force her collapse, mostly because the sheer number of people on Dhaka's streets with bricks and sticks were simply multiple folds of the count of ammunition the security establishment had at their disposal," says only did the army take a hands-off approach, some lower-ranking military personnel were also looking at options to bring down the regime if Hasina lasted beyond August 5."A military official told me he considered resigning and arming civilians for urban guerrilla warfare if Hasina had not fled on August 5," says activist-writer Salam, adding, "This tells you this was a civil war situation." Students chanted anti-Hasina slogans near Dhaka University after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was forced to flee. (AFP Image) HASINA'S BANGLADESH EXIT NOT JUST DUE TO STUDENTS AGITATIONThough students were the ones who started the fire, but it became an inferno because political parties and Islamist organisations added their muscle to the in morgue and those injured reveal the extent to which political and religious outfits participated in the street cheers that greeted the army and personnel flashing the victory sign also reveal that the military ensured a transfer of power in what can be interpreted as a coup-de-lite, albeit in the face of a massive people's movement."Hasina's regime collapsed because, towards the end, it became fashionable for all segments of Bangladeshi society to resist her, which includes laypersons, the political class, the military and even her cronies, who, towards the end, played their cards in such a way that the regime collapsed," sums up Rabbee.- EndsMust Watch
CNN
03-07-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Bangladesh ex-PM Hasina gets six-month prison sentence in absentia
Bangladesh's ousted and self-exiled Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was sentenced to six months in prison by the country's International Crimes Tribunal on Wednesday in a contempt of court case, a top prosecutor said. Hasina has been facing multiple cases since she fled to India after deadly student-led protests in August, but it was the first time the former leader was sentenced in one of them. Shakil Akand Bulbul, a leader of the Awami League party's banned student wing Chhatra League, was also sentenced to two months in prison in the same case, Chief Prosecutor Muhammad Tajul Islam told reporters. The party had been led by Hasina for years. A three-member ICT tribunal, led by Justice Golam Mortuza Mozumder, delivered the verdict in their absence, noting that the sentences will take effect upon arrest or surrender, the prosecutor added. The contempt charges stem from a leaked phone recording where Hasina was allegedly heard saying, 'there are 227 cases against me, so I now have a licence to kill 227 people.' A forensic report by a government investigative agency later confirmed the audio's authenticity. The ICT was originally set up in 2010 by Hasina's own government to try 1971 war crimes. Bangladesh's interim administration, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, pledged to hold leaders, including Hasina, accountable for rights abuses and corruption, including the crackdown on the student-led uprising last July that toppled Hasina's regime. The tribunal has so far issued three arrest warrants for Hasina, including charges of crimes against humanity linked to the July violence. Hasina's Awami League party remains banned while trials continue against the party and its former leaders. Supporters of Hasina dismiss the charges as politically motivated, but the interim government insists the trials are crucial for restoring accountability and rebuilding trust in Bangladesh's democratic institutions.
CNN
03-07-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Bangladesh ex-PM Hasina gets six-month prison sentence in absentia
Bangladesh's ousted and self-exiled Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was sentenced to six months in prison by the country's International Crimes Tribunal on Wednesday in a contempt of court case, a top prosecutor said. Hasina has been facing multiple cases since she fled to India after deadly student-led protests in August, but it was the first time the former leader was sentenced in one of them. Shakil Akand Bulbul, a leader of the Awami League party's banned student wing Chhatra League, was also sentenced to two months in prison in the same case, Chief Prosecutor Muhammad Tajul Islam told reporters. The party had been led by Hasina for years. A three-member ICT tribunal, led by Justice Golam Mortuza Mozumder, delivered the verdict in their absence, noting that the sentences will take effect upon arrest or surrender, the prosecutor added. The contempt charges stem from a leaked phone recording where Hasina was allegedly heard saying, 'there are 227 cases against me, so I now have a licence to kill 227 people.' A forensic report by a government investigative agency later confirmed the audio's authenticity. The ICT was originally set up in 2010 by Hasina's own government to try 1971 war crimes. Bangladesh's interim administration, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, pledged to hold leaders, including Hasina, accountable for rights abuses and corruption, including the crackdown on the student-led uprising last July that toppled Hasina's regime. The tribunal has so far issued three arrest warrants for Hasina, including charges of crimes against humanity linked to the July violence. Hasina's Awami League party remains banned while trials continue against the party and its former leaders. Supporters of Hasina dismiss the charges as politically motivated, but the interim government insists the trials are crucial for restoring accountability and rebuilding trust in Bangladesh's democratic institutions.
Al Jazeera
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Bangladesh ex-PM Hasina sentenced to six months in contempt case
Bangladesh's self-exiled former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been sentenced to six months in prison for contempt of court by the country's International Crimes Tribunal (ICT). The three-member tribunal, headed by Justice Golam Mortuza Mozumder, handed down the verdict in Hasina's absence on Wednesday. The sentence will take effect upon her arrest or voluntary surrender, Chief Prosecutor Muhammad Tajul Islam told reporters. Hasina, who fled to India following a student-led uprising last August, faces several charges. This marks the first time she has received a formal sentence in any of the cases. Shakil Akand Bulbul, a senior figure in the Awami League's banned student wing, Chhatra League, was also sentenced to two months in the same case. The contempt charges stem from an audio recording in which Hasina was allegedly heard saying, 'There are 227 cases against me, so I now have a licence to kill 227 people.' A government forensic report later confirmed the tape's authenticity. The ICT was established in 2010 by Hasina's own government to prosecute war crimes committed during the country's 1971 independence war. It has since been repurposed by the interim government, led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, to pursue allegations of rights violations and corruption under Hasina's rule. The tribunal has issued three arrest warrants for Hasina, including charges of crimes against humanity linked to the crackdown on the student-led protests last year, which toppled her government. Her Awami League party remains banned, with ongoing trials against former officials. Hasina's supporters insist the cases are politically motivated, describing them as part of a broader effort to silence opposition. However, the caretaker government argues the legal process is necessary to restore public trust in the country's institutions and ensure accountability.
