After a 20-year rule, 15 of them uninterrupted, Sheikh Hasina Wazed ingloriously abdicated her position as prime minister of Bangladesh and hurriedly left Dhaka for New Delhi. A dishonourable exit for an otherwise honourable leader, Sheikh Hasina was India’s steadfast friend and had become an institution unto herself. This term was recently used by Sheikh Hasina to describe those who opposed her in the streets and perpetrated the violence. Her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s entire family was wiped out by the very people who were supposedly his supporters during the 1971 war of independence. The biggest fear perceived to be in Sheikh Hasina’s mind was of radical Islamists—the Jamaat e Islami—who she felt constantly connived with the razakars to oust her.

Source: Indian Express August 07, 2024 01:10 UTC