Facing the darkest period since party supremo Sheikh Hasina’s exit last August following protracted protests, the catalyst for the current catastrophe, scores of Awami League MPs, leaders and functionaries too fled from Bangladesh and a majority of them are now living in exile in India, particularly in the neighbouring state of West Bengal.
According to data available with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), at least 200 ‘Category-A’ leaders of the Awami League, including 70 Members of Parliament, crossed the border and sought safety in Bengal.
Others include retired army officers, senior police officials, and bureaucrats under Hasina’s government.
“If one counts the functionaries of the various tiers of the Awami League’s hierarchy, the number in Bengal is at least 1,000,” said intelligence agency sources.
Sleuths of the central Intelligence agencies, said the functionaries of the Awami League, a dominant force in Bangladesh’s politics, are living in “safe houses” in Kolkata, north Bengal and other districts of the state.
“Many Awami League leaders are also living in Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow and other cities in north India,” said a source.
The News Arena India (NAI) met with a former MP and an Awami League leader and a joint secretary of the party living in Kolkata who have been operating their party’s political activities in Bangladesh under the leadership of Hasina who is also in exile in India.
The escape
Pankaj Nath, a former MP from Barishal, recounted his plight after Hasina’s ouster and his journey to Kolkata.
“I went underground immediately after Hasina left Bangladesh. I turned off my cellphone. I was in Bangladesh. I left my homeland in October. I will not reveal the precise section of the India—Bangladesh border that I crossed to get into India. However, the trek through woods and hills was quite exhausting. After visiting a few small towns in the northeastern and northern parts of Bengal, I finally came to Kolkata,” said Nath.
Bengal’s northern part and northeastern states share a border with Bangladesh which has forests and hills. Intelligence agency sources said that most of the Awami League leaders crossed over the border in the northeastern parts of India.
Nath carries a cellphone with a SIM card from an Indian service provider that issues the communication chip against photo identity documents issued by Indian authorities. He is living in a rented apartment in east Kolkata.
“My friends helped me to get the apartment and the SIM card. Like me, 69 other former Awami League MPs, who are presently in West Bengal, are getting help from their old acquaintances in Bengal,” said Nath.
He, however, refused to disclose details of his “friend”.
Nath bemoaned that his mother passed away after he had left Bangladesh but could attend her last rites.
Bahauddin Nasim, the joint secretary of the Awami League, has also confined himself in a two-room apartment in south Kolkata.
“From any part of Bangladesh, it takes a maximum 8 to 10 hours to reach India. But I took two days. I left Bangladesh on August 10, five days after Hasina departed Dhaka, and arrived in Bengal late on August 11. First I reached a border point maintaining the highest level of secrecy. But that area was too congested. I feared someone might identify me. I went to another border. While crossing over, I was scared that BSF personnel would shoot me as they don’t know my identity,” said Nasim.
Political activities
Both the Awami League leaders admitted that they are in regular touch with their party supremo Sheikh Hasina. But they declined to say if they met her. “If we send her text messages through apps, she replies on time and gives us instructions,” said Nath.
The leaders admitted that digital platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram are the main communication tools to carry out police activities.
“Where we stay is irrelevant in this era of digital communication. Former foreign affairs minister Hasan Mahmud communicates with us and other leaders of the Awami League in Bangladesh from Belgium. We have created several WhatsApp groups in zila (district) and upazila (sib-district) levels where our workers in Bangladesh are posting information, videos and receiving instructions from leaders like us who are in exile and practicing self-confinement abroad. To deceive our rivals, we have also created social media groups using names that are unrelated to the Awami League,” said Khan.
Nasim said communications are being made through texts and voice chats as well.”But we are avoiding direct calls to avoid surveillance by the Bangladesh government,” he added.
Claiming that communication with the party workers in Bangladesh has already helped to mobilise resistance against the atrocities of the present government. “In Gazipur, recently our activists and common people chased away attackers who targeted the houses of our leaders. This resistance has shaken the government. Now they have unleashed terror on us by launching Operation Devil Hunt and arrested more than 1,300 Awami League supporters. But we are working on it and necessary instructions will be sent to our workers through digital platforms,” said Nasim.
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