Hasina set to return home, hopes

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Awami League president Sheikh Hasina, preparing to fly home on April 23, expressed hope on Saturday that the interim government would withdraw the embargo on her return to the country.
‘I will go to the airport tomorrow [Sunday]. I hope that the government will withdraw the embargo and the airways authorities would not put any bar on my way to Dhaka,’ Hasina, now in London, told the BBC radio’s Bangla service.
Hasina said the question of her seeking asylum in any foreign country did not arise and reiterated that she would return home ‘at any cost’.
‘The AL president is determined to return to the country on April 23 at any cost,’ the assistant secretary to the AL sub-committee on international affairs, Abdus Sobhan Golap, told New Age from London by phone on Saturday. Golap is accompanying the AL president on her overseas trip.
The AL stalwarts in Dhaka, however, remained tight-lipped over whether the party chief would return home on April 23 defying the ban.
Terming the rapidly changing situation ‘very complex’ especially after the government said it would block Hasina’s entry, the acting president of the party, Zillur Rahman, earlier said that the party would ‘give its reaction after the leaders hold talks among themselves’.
But the party neither confirmed not denied till Saturday evening whether Hasina would return home as scheduled.
‘The general secretary of the party [Abdul Jalil], who was out of town, returned today [Saturday] and we will discuss the matter today or tomorrow,’ the acting party president told New Age on Saturday night.
Abdul Jalil, however, refused comments on Hasina’s planned return and the government embargo.
‘I do not know whether she would fly home on April 23. I will not make any further comments on the issue at the moment,’ Jalil told New
Age Saturday evening after his return from northern Naogaon town.
Although the AL president on Saturday expressed hope in London that she would return to the country as per schedule, the party leaders and activists here were still confused and uncertain.
‘It is really frustrating as a former prime minister… a citizen of this independent country will not be allowed to return home’, said a presidium member of the AL.
Another source said that the AL was closely watching the developments following the writ petition filed on behalf of the BNP chairperson, Khaleda Zia, on Thursday and would decide on its next course of action after disposal of the writ.
‘We are waiting for what happens to the writ filed for Khaleda [challenging her alleged confinement] and would take next course of action regarding the government embargo on Hasina’s return’, a senior presidium member of the AL told New Age.
Meanwhile, in an interview with a private television channel, a member of the party presidium made some comments on reform in the AL causing further confusion in the party rank and file.
Senior presidium member Suranjit Sengupta in an interview with Channel i television questioned practice of democracy within the party and underscored reform in the AL.
The party high-ups, however, decided to investigate the comments made by Suranjit.
‘I have heard that he [Suranjit] makes comments on different issues of the organisation and the party will investigate the matter,’ the acting AL president told New Age.
In an interview with BBC Bangla service, Hasina said that it was ‘beyond her imagination’ that the interim government would slap a ban on her return home.
‘I have faced many such adversities in my political life… and survived grenade attacks,’ Hasina said vowing to face any situation back home.
Asked what would be her next plan if British Airways refused to take her to Dhaka, the former prime minister said she would try to reach the country by whatever means possible.
‘I want to return to my country at any cost. …let me go to the airport, and the next decision will be taken as the situation demands,’ she said adding that she had informed her party leaders about her return.
The interim government has said it would block Hasina’s return to the country, saying that her arrival might lead to confrontation and disorder in the country.
‘Hasina’s return might create further confusion and hatred among the people,’ said a press note issued on Wednesday by the home ministry that blamed the former prime minister for her recent ‘provocative statements’ to the media and political gatherings abroad.

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