A significant phone call from India played a critical role in ensuring the safety of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina amidst escalating unrest last year. The developing situation on August 5 saw youth-driven protests erupt into widespread violence, with demonstrators approaching the Prime Minister’s Dhaka residence. During this tense period, while within Ganabhaban, Sheikh Hasina received a vital phone conversation from a senior Indian official. This call appears to have been the catalyst for her decision to make an immediate departure from Bangladesh. Accounts suggest she was able to escape via helicopter a mere 20 minutes before the mob reached her location, subsequently boarding a cargo plane bound for India. This decisive moment is highlighted as a potential lifesaver, preventing Hasina from enduring a fate comparable to that of her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
The narrative underscores the extreme danger of the situation. According to the book, even the highest-ranking military officials in Bangladesh, including the Army, Air Force, and Navy chiefs, were unable to persuade a determined Hasina to leave her residence as late as 1:30 PM on August 5, 2024. She reportedly confided in her sister, Sheikh Rehana, and spoke with her son, Sajeeb Wajed, in the US, who both urged her to fly to India. Hasina’s initial stance was that she would “rather die than flee her country,” even as the agitated crowd neared Ganabhaban. It was only after receiving a firm directive via a phone call from an ‘identified’ Indian official that she agreed to leave. Her request to record a speech was rejected by the service chiefs due to the rapidly deteriorating security situation. She ultimately flew to India, arriving at Hindon Airbase in Ghaziabad and remaining there since.