I am in trouble… Sheikh Hasina called ‘Kaka Babu’ at midnight, Indian Army was about to enter Bangladesh

After the coup in Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina had to leave both her chair and the country. Currently she is in India. She is seeking political asylum from many countries. This is not the first time that such a turmoil has come in Sheikh Hasina’s life. In the year 1975, Sheikh Hasina’s father Mujibur Rahman, her mother and three brothers were brutally murdered in a similar rebellion.

First talk of 1975

When this incident happened on 15 August 1975, Sheikh Hasina was in Brussels with her husband Wajed and younger sister Rehana Sheikh. Early that day, the phone of Bangladesh’s ambassador to Brussels Sanaul Haq rang. On the other side was Humayun Rashid Chowdhury, who was Bangladesh’s ambassador to Germany. He told that the situation in Bangladesh has worsened. The army has revolted and Sheikh Mujibur has been killed.

German ambassador helped

When Sheikh Hasina got the news of her parents and brothers being killed, she was struck by lightning. She decided that she would stay in Brussels for a few days, but ambassador Sanaul Haque asked her to leave immediately. Sheikh Hasina somehow reached Germany with the help of Humayun Rashid Chowdhury. Senior journalist Rehan Fazal writes in an article on BBC Hindi that Bangladesh ambassador to Germany Humayun Rashid Chowdhury went to meet Indian ambassador YK Puri and asked if India could give political asylum to Sheikh Hasina and her family?

Who called Indira?

Puri said that he would talk to New Delhi and let them know. Puri returned with the answer the next day. He told Chowdhury that the process of political asylum in India is very long. You yourself have been the chief of Bangladesh mission in India. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, her advisor DP Dhar and PN Haksar know you very well. Why don’t you talk yourself once? Chowdhury thought that it would not be right to call Indira Gandhi or her advisors directly like this. However, when he could not find any way out, he got tired and dialled Indira Gandhi’s office.

Indira Gandhi herself received the call. Chowdhury told Indira Gandhi everything and she immediately agreed to grant political asylum to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s daughter Sheikh Hasina and her family.

Sheikh Hasina was taken to RAW’s safe house

On August 19, Indian ambassador YK Puri again met Bangladesh ambassador Humayun Rashid Chowdhury and said that he had instructions from New Delhi to make immediate arrangements to send Sheikh Mujibur’s daughters and their family to Delhi. On August 24, 1975, Sheikh Hasina and her family came to Delhi by Air India flight. Here from Palam airport, they were taken directly to the safe house of Indian intelligence agency RAW. A few days later, they were allotted a permanent flat near Pandara Park near India Gate. Sheikh Hasina was strictly instructed not to come out of her flat or meet anyone. Two sharp officers were deployed for her security.

Another earthquake came in 2009

After spending about 6 years in exile in India, Sheikh Hasina returned to Bangladesh in 1986 and reached the seat of Prime Minister through her father’s party. Slowly her life and politics came back on track, but in 2009 another earthquake came. Sheikh Hasina had just been Prime Minister for a few days when Bangladesh’s paramilitary force revolted. Within no time, terrible violence started all over Bangladesh. Many top army officers were killed.

Calling ‘Kaka Babu’ with a choked throat

Avinash Paliwal writes in his book ‘India’s Near East: A New History’, recently published by Penguin, that at that time there was a UPA government. Pranab Mukherjee used to be the Finance Minister. One day, his phone rang at midnight. Sheikh Hasina was on the other end of the phone. Her throat was choked. Her voice was not coming out properly. She just said that she was in trouble and needed help. Pranab Mukherjee immediately understood that something terrible was about to happen.

Sheikh Hasina knew Mukherjee from the days of exile in India. Mukherjee also came from Bengal, which is adjacent to Bangladesh. During that period, such a deep bond developed between the two that Sheikh Hasina started calling Mukherjee ‘Kaka Babu’. When she went to Bangladesh, she often used to send Pranab Da’s favorite Hilsa fish for him from there. Pranab Mukherjee himself mentions his closeness with Sheikh Hasina in his autobiography ‘Collision Years’. He writes that he was so close to Sheikh Hasina that he had assured Bangladesh’s General Moin U Ahmed that Hasina would not remove him from his post.

The army was going to enter from three sides. The Prime Minister was immediately informed about this call from Sheikh Hasina and a high level meeting was called. The Indian government had made up its mind that at no cost, Sheikh Hasina would be harmed and a plan was prepared to rescue her safely. India prepared to send its army to Bangladesh from three sides. About 1000 paratroopers were hastily sent to Kalaikunda Air Force in West Bengal. Similar preparations were made in Jorhat and Agartala, which were adjacent to the Bangladesh border.

What was the plan of the Indian Army

Avinash Paliwal writes in his book that the Indian Army’s plan was to first secure Dhaka’s Jalal and Tejgaon airports, which are also the base of the Bangladesh Air Force. After this, the paratroopers would safely evacuate Sheikh Hasina from the Prime Minister’s residence. The matter had progressed so much that the Indian Army also provided state-of-the-art weapons to its first line of attack.

Meanwhile, the top officers and diplomats of the Indian Army were in touch with the Bangladesh Army through another channel and gave them a strong message. Eventually the rebellion stopped. India neither had to send the army nor did Sheikh Hasina have to leave the country.