Sheikh Hasina may be moving to Russia

Hasina’s residence status may end in India, and she may permanently settle in Russia. Sheikh Hasina allegedly lives at a safe house near Delhi, at Ghaziabad Hindon Air Base, which regularly pops up in Indian media sources and is promoted by the Indian government. However, some security analysts in the West believe that her alleged stay in India was only designed to provide her with temporary insulation from mob attacks.

There were talks of a potential political asylum in Qatar and UAE, but that did not go through as planned due to objections from a few crucial stakeholders. Sheikh Hasina needs a nonsignatory of the ICC (International Criminal Court) country, which will never extradite her. Russia is known for providing safe exile to its loyal allies and never bows to foreign pressures or extradition requests.

Sheikh Hasina and her family enjoy a traditionally special relationship with Russia that goes back to the former Soviet Union era when the Soviet Union played an instrumental role in creating independent Bangladesh from breakaway East Pakistan in 1971.

The new interim government in Bangladesh is under increasing pressure from the youths who overthrew the Hasina government in August to bring Sheikh Hasina to justice. As Russia never hands over its allies to foreign countries, the potential Russian asylum for Hasina may permanently relieve the Bangladeshi government from the furious public pressure. Most key power brokers of the ousted government have already found foreign safe havens, leaving only Hasina as the remaining one. Notably, the Sheikh Hasina-led autocratic government had become a liability and was unsustainable for the Bangladeshi security establishment. The security establishment has been the primary power broker of Bangladeshi politics since its independence in 1971.