Sheikh Hasina: Inside her final hours as a hated autocrat

Reuters A mural of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is seen vandalised by protesters as people celebrate her resignation in Dhaka, Bangladesh, August 5, 2024Reuters

She appeared to be denialing that her time as prime minister when she called issue safety discussions on Sunday to end the country’s spiralling unrest.

Within hours, she may be swept away by people energy – however, some could have predicted the velocity of her leave.

According to her brother, the BBC was informed that in the end, her son’s advice was given by close family more than top security officials.

Only in time for Ms. Hasina’s escape, audiences quickly entered her home.

The embattled prime minister was joined by the top three military commanders, senior security officers, and officers at the late-night meeting of the National Security Committee. The feeling was awake.

As anti-government demonstrations erupted all over the nation, increasing strain was being put on the prime minister. In Bangladesh’s worst act of violence since its declaration of independence in 1971, thousands have been killed.

At least 90 people were killed on Sunday alone, primarily by police officers, and more and more policeman were killed by the crowd.

Sheikh Hasina wanted to keep” two choices” available, according to officials ‘ information. She wanted to stay in power until the last minute, using army, despite preparations to abandon the nation.

Military officials did not agree. In different locations of the nation on Sunday, regular people and protesters mingled with military officers and soldiers on the ground. After reviewing the circumstance, senior military commanders realised things were out of power.

According to sources told the BBC, the military top brass at the meeting personally told the prime minister that soldiers could provide security support to police if they did n’t shoot at civilians. Senior officers leaders even complained they were running out of weapons, it after emerged.

Sheikh Hasina, however, had no listen- and no-one was inclined to agree with her to her encounter.

After the conference, her press secretary delivered her angry communication. She called the protesters “terrorists” and urged people to avoid those she described as “arsonists”.

Security forces were concerned that a circumstance was quickly elude civil war.

Reuters A demonstrator runs next to a vandalised police box during a protest demanding the stepping down of Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, following quota reform protests by students, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, August 4, 2024.Reuters

As the dying burden rate remained steady on Sunday, images of the crime were popular on social media. More rage was emitted by images of young men who had been shot by police and youth activists in the Awami League group’s youth movement.

Students ‘ calls for a mass march in Dhaka by day were brought forward as the intensity of the conflicts became clear, surprising the government.

According to knowledge inputs, thousands of people planned to descend on the money the day after their demands started to increase.

If the security troops tried to stop the protesters, there would be another disaster.

So army commander Waker-Uz-Zaman decided to speak to the prime minister afterwards.

According to reliable sources, the three service leaders met her on Sunday night and politely explained how the local environment was becoming increasingly dangerous and that thousands of people were expected in Dhaka on Monday night. They were unable to maintain her home’s security.

Sheikh Hasina disregarded their counsel, but Dhaka-based editors claimed they could feel a shift in power. By Sunday evening, police were excluded from many locations and manned several security checks.

A map showing the city of Dkhaka with locations including the parliament and the Prime Minister's residence labelled

On Monday night, huge crowds had started moving towards Dhaka. Once more, Gen Zaman addressed Ms. Hasina about the seriousness of the situation while she was at her house. Violence was already erupting as people began to break the punishment.

Gen Zaman told her that no longer than 20 police would be able to stop the group from reaching Gono Bhaban, the prime minister’s formal house in the money. An hour or so at best.

At this point, military leaders decided to call on community members to fight.

Police and military leaders therefore held talks with Sheikh Hasina’s girl, Rehana Siddiq, to see if she could persuade her elder family to keep.

Sheikh Rehana and the authorities spoke in a different place. Sheikh Hasina was asked to explain the circumstance to her. Sheikh Rehana spoke with her older sister before Sheikh Hasina’s statement, according to the Bengali-language Prothom Alo everyday, but the latter was unwavering in her determination to maintain power.

Then Ms Hasina’s child Sajeeb and child Saima, who both live overseas, spoke to her on the phone and insisted she should proceed. During these home agreements, the army commander, who is related to Ms Hasina by marriage, was reportedly provide throughout.

” My mother never wanted to leave the region.” Sajeeb Wazed Joy’s family began considering resignation on Saturday evening, according to Sajeeb Wazed Joy, who told the BBC on Tuesday.

We in the home begged her, and we insisted that she belonged to the crowd because they were attempting to commit murder. That is how much time she had, despite how much the crowd had to wait it. They simply left without any planning.

” I rang her monday in Delhi. She’s in great spirits but she’s very unhappy. She’s quite disheartened by the people of Bangladesh.”

Reuters People walk next to vandalised cars at the Mohammadpur Police Station, after the resignation of Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, August 6, 2024.Reuters

On Monday night, options said, Sheikh Hasina got in touch with state officials in Delhi to obtain shelter. The advice from India, a fervent supporter throughout her long job, was for her to leave.

Previously, it was reported that Washington had reportedly been communicating with Indian authorities regarding Ms. Hasina’s arrival. She had run out of options.

However, it was still a question of how to properly remove her from the country after she reluctantly accepted the documents granting her post.

Only the Special Security Force, the National Guard Regiment, and some older defense officers at military office, according to a senior military standard who declined to be named, were aware when Sheikh Hasina signed the resignation letter and boarded the defense helicopter that would take her out of her home. The whole thing was done very quietly.

At about 10: 30 local time ( 05: 00GMT ), the authorities shut down the internet so that no news about Sheikh Hasina’s movements could spread on social media.

She just returned it after making her getaway, when it was reactivated.

Older troops sources claim that plans were made to safely transport Sheikh Hasina to the aircraft. The whole way was cleared and the exit point secured because there was concern that her fleet may be attacked. But in the end, it was not safe to take her by path, so a plane was used instead.

Right up to the moment of exit, Sheikh Hasina was anxious to get on it, her brother said.

” She wanted my uncle to keep, “her child said”. My family did not want to get on the aircraft. I was on the contact, persuading my mom, telling my uncle, both of them that she had to left.”

They were transported from Gono Bhaban to a waiting Bangladeshi Air Force C-130 Hercules aviation after being prepared.

Sajeeb Wazed Joy claims they were flown from Agartala, the northeast state of Tripura, to Delhi. According to officials, India had already been approached and approved her transport using this way.

According to other accounts, she was flown to Delhi by air and therefore taken by air to an aircraft in Dhaka.

Whichever course they took, at about 13: 30 native moment, Ms Hasina, her sister and a top Awami League MP, Salman Fazlur Rahman, were transferred from the plane to the plane that took them to Delhi, authorities said.

Four or five backpacks were waiting to get loaded in a video posted on social media. Even though she was still in the weather, many of the issues she left behind were being escorted off by audiences who had invaded her home.

Some time later, the plane landed in Delhi, its passengers ‘ onward place vague.

Back in Dhaka, the internet was back on and all around Bangladesh, celebrations were breaking out marking the end of Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year rule.

A woman who was once seen as democrat but later criticized by many as a despot had fled under cover of internet obscurity.