New Delhi: Sheikh Hasina will never forget the date of 5th August. Sheikh Hasina did not run away from Bangladesh for no reason. The protest over reservation became so violent that Sheikh Hasina’s life was in danger. The protesters were on the streets. They were just a few steps away from the Prime Minister’s residence. At any moment, a convoy of protesters could march towards the PM’s residence. In such a situation, on the morning of 5th August, there was a sudden commotion at the Prime Minister’s residence. The situation in Bangladesh was worsening. A day before this, 100 people had died in the protest. The anger against Sheikh Hasina was now at its peak. Meanwhile, on 5th August, the three army chiefs of Bangladesh hurriedly reached to meet Sheikh Hasina. Sheikh Hasina’s sister Rehana was also present here. There were only five people in the room. It was here that the climax of the change of power in Bangladesh was written.
On Monday morning, the Sheikh Hasina government had clearly told the police and the army – ‘Do whatever you can!’ The internet was shut down, the roads were strictly blocked by the police and the army, and all the roads leading to the city center were closed. No stone was left unturned to stop the protesters. But even then the crowd was not ready to listen. It seemed as if they had come out with shrouds tied on their heads to oust Sheikh Hasina from power. Hasina wanted to stop the protest at any cost, but the army was not in favor of firing. The Army Chief said that a massacre would have to be committed for this.
Those 6 people in a closed room
However, Monday morning was full of activity from the streets to the PM’s residence. A day before, there was a massacre in Bangladesh. Anger against Sheikh Hasina was at its peak. Suddenly, early in the morning, the Army Chief, Police Chief, Air Force Chief and Navy Chief reached Hasina’s residence. Sheikh Hasina met all of them in the presence of her sister Sheikh Rehana. Sheikh Rehana lives in London and had come to Bangladesh a few days ago. There were only 6 people in the room.
Army chiefs also explained
According to the New York Times report, Sheikh Hasina was adamant on crushing the protests. But the army chiefs made it clear that this was impossible. The number of people coming to the city was in lakhs. A large number of protesters had reached close to the area around the PM’s residence. To save Sheikh Hasina, bloodshed and massacre would have to be done. That is why the army chiefs were not sure that even after this they would be able to stop such a large crowd. In this way, the army chiefs surrendered in front of Sheikh Hasina.
Whose advice did Haseena listen to?
However, Sheikh Hasina was not ready to listen to the army chiefs. Hasina was also ignoring the concerns of the army chiefs. In such a situation, Sheikh Hasina’s sister Rehana asked to talk to her in private. Rehana took her sister Sheikh Hasina alone. When she returned from a room after about 20 minutes, Sheikh Hasina was silent. But even then she was reluctant. After this, Army Chief General Waqar-uz-Zaman called Sheikh Hasina’s son Sajeev Wajed, who lives in Virginia, and asked him to convince his mother.
Whose phone did the Army Chief hand over?
After this, the Army Chief handed over the phone to Sheikh Hasina. During this time, he and other military officers kept watching. Hasina listened to her son quietly. Then she nodded. Wazed told about the conversation with Hasina. ‘She did not want to go anywhere, she did not want to leave the country at all. But we were worried about her safety first, so we convinced her to go.’ He told that on the phone he told Hasina that the mob can kill you. So leave the country. Seeing the fierceness of the demonstration, the army chiefs had realized that Sheikh Hasina had less than an hour to leave the country.
could not even deliver the final address
After this, Sheikh Hasina did not have enough time to address the nation for the last time. This was not possible in the chaos all around. Somehow she was seated in an army armored vehicle and taken directly to the helipad. After this, she reached Hindon Airbase near Delhi directly by military aircraft.
Bangladesh, sheikh hasina
FIRST PUBLISHED : August 8, 2024, 08:51 IST
