India - Hasina's harbour in troubled times: When Indira Gandhi gave her asylum after father's assassination

Sheikh Hasina, the former Bangladesh Prime Minister who resigned on Monday after the students' agitation continued despite the Bangladesh Supreme Court reducing the job quota for freedom fighters in the country to seven from 30 per cent, immediately flew to India and is currently looking for safe haven options which include London and Finland.

The 76-year-old premier had to flee the country after her regime unleashed brutal assault on the student protesters that led to the death of over a 100 individuals since Sunday. This was preceded by around 200 deaths during the quota protests in the country this month.

Hasina's C-130J transport aircraft took off at 9 am on Tuesday, but latest reports suggest she is still in India.

This is the second time in her eventful life that India has come to the rescue of the former prime minister, who is also the daughter of Bangladesh's founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

On August 15, 1975, Mujib, along with several members of his family, was assassinated in a coup in his unguarded personal residence in Dhaka. Among those killed were his wife, three sons, two daughters-in-law, brother, and many other relatives.

Only two from his family managed to survive—the same two who quietly boarded an army aircraft and headed to India on Tuesday—Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana.

The sisters, along with Hasina's husband, were in Europe when their entire family was shot dead by the usurpers. The rage against the Sheikh family had reached a boiling point after he banned all other political parties in Bangladesh, suppressed freedom of press, and his Jatiya Rakkhi Bahini, which was formed to curb left-wing extremists, allegedly indulged in human rights violations within the country.

Soon after the killings, Indira Gandhi called on Hasina and her family to live in India. When she visited India in 2017, Hasina, as per a report by the New Indian Express, had said, “They (the assassins) attacked three houses and killed 18 people. We had nobody there. We were at that time homeless, countryless, we became refugees. But at that time Mrs Indira Gandhi immediately sent a message to us asking us come to India."

Now, almost half a century since that day in August, another August has spelled doom for Mujibur's daughter. While her father had ignored Indian intelligence's warnings of a coup, Hasina took a safety-first approach and decided to flee the country before the flames of dissent reached her physically. And once again, it was her all-weather friend India that gave her shelter during times of trouble.

The Sheikh family's history with India has been deep and unique. Even Mujib had worked in Kolkata (then Calcutta) extensively before Partition for the Muslim League and the United Bengal movements.

However, now India will not allow Hasina to stay here indefinitely, as per reports. With her government falling, India will hope for warm relationships with the interim government which is about to be formed in the neighbouring country. Giving Hasina shelter might dampen such prospects.