No African country willing to shelter Hasina, says PM’s aide

Prime Minister’s Assistant Press Secretary KM Nazmul Haque has said that not even a single African country is willing to offer shelter to ousted autocrat Sheikh Hasina.

He made the remarks in a post on his verified Facebook account on Friday afternoon.

Nazmul wrote, “The United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Finland, the United States, Belarus, Qatar — not even a single African country — is willing to offer shelter to the perpetrator of genocide.

“Sheikh Hasina’s presence in Delhi is increasingly becoming an embarrassment for the Indian government. This is no longer a secret. Not only are India-Bangladesh bilateral relations being affected, but India is also facing questions on the international stage: why has it continued to shelter a convicted criminal accused of genocide for so long?”

He said, “A BBC Bangla report has revealed that the best solution for India would have been to send Sheikh Hasina to a third country. Delhi has held discussions with several countries on multiple occasions in this regard, but those efforts have failed. As a result, India now believes that Hasina’s return to Bangladesh to face trial is the only realistic option.”

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In other words, Nazmul said, the options before Hasina are closing one by one. 

He said that fugitive Sheikh Hasina and her family now want to return to Bangladesh as a last resort, at the cost of the lives of grassroots leaders and activists.

“Yet, as she fled after relinquishing power, she abandoned these leaders and activists to their fate, sending her family members abroad ahead of her before fleeing herself. After leaving the country, Hasina’s son remarked: ‘You [leaders and activists] are on your own; we are no longer with you’ — an utterly irresponsible stance.”

Nazmul said the very family that used its grassroots leaders and activists while in power and abandoned them in times of crisis is now once again putting their lives at risk to save its own political existence. 

“Those who still treat the Awami League as a religion and engage in violent activities in its name should stop and think for a moment. Think about yourselves. Think about your families,” he added.