As Bangladesh prepares for the first election since Sheikh Hasina fled to India, Awami League figures living in Kolkata believe she can still return a hero
Back in Bangladesh they are deemed criminals and fugitives, facing charges of crimes against humanity, murder, sedition or embezzlement. But in the comfort of the crowded food courts of Kolkata shopping malls, over black coffee and Indian fast food, the exiled politicians of the Awami League sit plotting their political comeback.
More than 16 months ago, a revolution against Bangladesh’s autocratic prime minister Sheikh Hasina forced her to dramatically flee the country, jumping on a helicopter to India as an enraged onslaught of protesters marched towards her residence. The streets she left behind were bloody; her regime’s final crackdown on protesters in the July uprising had left as many as 1,400 dead, according to a UN report.
