While in Delhi, Sheikh Hasina would discuss bilateral ties with Indian leadership, it goes without saying that memories of her exile days would haunt her
Vivek Shukla
As and when Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed visits Delhi, she would be transported back to those days and years when she was living here in asylum. As Hasina Wazed would be in India from April 7-11, she would be thinking about her Pandara Road days.
While Delhi has a history of giving shelter to the shelterless, it has also given comfortable abode to Hasina and her family from 1975 to 1981 after the gory events back home that killed her father and founder of Bangladesh Sheikh Mujibur Rehman with his wife and three sons on August 25, 1975. The gory killing took place at their Dhanmandi area home of Dhaka. Hasina and her younger sister escaped death as they were in West Germany. Then Hasina’s late husband, MA Wazed Miah was working there as a Nuclear Scientist and she was with him.
Admittedly, those were really very trying times for her. She was completely broken due to senseless killings of her parents and siblings. Due to very hostile government in Bangladesh, there was no question of her going back to her homeland. That was the time when she came to Delhi in 1975 with her husband Mr Wajed and two kids Sajeeb Wazed ‘Joy’ and Saima Wazed Hossain’ Putul’. She first briefly stayed at 56 Ring Road, Lajpat Nagar-3 and later at Pandara Road till 1981. Now, Sajeeb Wazed ‘Joy’ lives in the US and daughter Saima Wazed Hossain ‘Putul’ is based in Canada.
Sajeeb Wazed had his school in India, including St Joseph’s College in Nainital and Kodaikanal International School in Palani Hills, Tamil Nadu.
DK Bose, a known face in the Delhi football circle and president of Hindustan football club, was among the lucky few who had met Hasina at her Pandara Road flat several times. It was close to Pandara Road Market. Recalling those days, Bose said that our first meeting with her was organised by some academician from Dhaka University. Later, we used to meet her on regular basis. During those meetings, we used to discuss the state of Bangladesh and Bangla literature at a length. The work of Rabindranath Tagor was always discussed during those meetings as she was a great fan of Tagore’s poetry. We also presented her many books written by Bengali writers. She was very decent and soft-spoken. For obvious reasons, Hasina avoided meeting many people here. Perhaps it was due to some kind of advisory from the security agencies.
In Delhi, she was close to Mrs Subhra, late wife of President Pranab Mukerjee. On her visit to Delhi in 2010, Hasina broke protocol to visit Mrs.Subhra, whom she had befriended during her exile days in New Delhi. When Mrs. Subhra passed away last year, she came to Delhi with her daughter to pay her condolences to the President’s family.
Surprisingly enough, she was almost an apolitical person during those days even though she was the daughter of a fiery political leader. While she was in Delhi, India was under Emergency and perhaps due to this reason, she wasn’t allowed to meet many people. In any case, she was also not a very approachable person.
It is said that there was no elaborate security cover around VIPs during those days; her home was always
surrounded by plain-clothed security guards. Leaders of Bangladesh Awami League used to visit her in order to
pursuade her to take the mantle of Bangladesh Awami League. While she was in India she was elected as the head of Awami league. While Hasina was in Delhi, a gentleman by the name AL Khatib used to work as assistant to her. Khatib had also authored a book ‘Who killed Mujib?’ Khatib was an eminent journalist. The book was published by Vikas Publications. It is still considered as one of the most authentic accounts of killing of Mujib and his family.
In Delhi, Karol Bagh Bang Sabha and Minto Road Puja samiti, which jointly held huge protest march in front of Pakistan High-Commission when armed forces of Pakistan massacred lakhs of people in the then East Pakistan, also invited Hasina to their functions. She somehow declined to attend those functions. But, she was pretty appreciative of their concern for the people
of Bangladesh.
While in Delhi, Hasina was not fully recovered from killings of her family members. She avoided talking about those traumatic events. In fact, Wazed Miah requested all those who came to meet her not to discuss killings of 25 June, 1975. He was engaged in research work at the New Delhi based laboratory of Atomic Energy Commission of India during 1975-1982, during the period of exile.
Wazed Miah was handpicked by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who went on to found free Bangladesh in 1971; Miah married Hasina in 1968. While in Delhi, she would discuss bilateral ties with Indian leadership. It goes without saying that crowd of memories of her exile days would haunt her.
(The writer is Former editor Somaiya publications)
