Where will Sheikh Hasina go? Bangladesh Ex-PM's options after Dhaka exit
New Delhi: Sheikh Hasina, the former Prime Minister of Bangladesh, resigned amid violent protests and fled Dhaka two days ago. She landed near Delhi, sparking speculation about her next move. Initial reports suggested she might seek asylum in the UK, but this appears unlikely as the UK Home Office stated that British immigration rules do not allow individuals to travel to the country to seek asylum or temporary refuge.
In an interview with NDTV, Sheikh Hasina's son, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, clarified that his mother has not requested asylum anywhere. He mentioned that she had planned to retire after her current term and is now done with politics in Bangladesh. Sheikh Hasina's daughter, Saima Wazed, who resides in Delhi, expressed her heartbreak over the situation but indicated she has not met her mother since the escape.
Despite Sheikh Hasina's sister being a UK citizen and her niece, Tulip Siddiq, holding a political position in the Labour Party, the UK has maintained that individuals seeking asylum must do so in the first safe country they reach. Thus, the UK appears hesitant to offer her refuge.
Although Sheikh Hasina's son lives in the US, the strained relations between Washington and Dhaka during her tenure reduce the likelihood of her moving there. There have been unconfirmed reports of her US visa being canceled following her resignation.
Sheikh Hasina has been in India since Monday. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar stated that she sought approval to come to India on short notice. India is giving her time to decide on her next move, considering her historical relationship with the country, but faces a diplomatic dilemma in supporting her openly.
Sheikh Hasina's future remains uncertain as she considers her options amid geopolitical complexities. The Indian government is providing her with the necessary time and support to recover and plan her next steps.
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Israel says rabbi who went missing in UAE was killed
Tel Aviv, Nov 24: Israel said Sunday that the body of an Israeli-Moldovan rabbi who went missing in the United Arab Emirates has been found after he was killed in what it described as a “heinous antisemitic terror incident.”
The statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Israel “will act with all means to seek justice with the criminals responsible for his death.” There was no immediate comment from the UAE.
Zvi Kogan, 28, an ultra-Orthodox rabbi who went missing on Thursday, ran a Kosher grocery store in the futuristic city of Dubai, where Israelis have flocked for commerce and tourism since the two countries forged diplomatic ties in the 2020 Abraham Accords.
The agreement has held through more than a year of soaring regional tensions unleashed by Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack into southern Israel. But Israel's devastating retaliatory offensive in Gaza and its invasion of Lebanon, after months of fighting with the Hezbollah group, have stoked anger among Emiratis, Arab nationals and others living in the the UAE.
Iran, which supports Hamas and Hezbollah, has also been threatening to retaliate against Israel after a wave of airstrikes Israel carried out in October in response to an Iranian ballistic missile attack.
The Emirati government did not respond to a request for comment.
Early Sunday, the UAE's state-run WAM news agency acknowledged Kogan's disappearance but pointedly did not acknowledge he held Israeli citizenship, referring to him only as being Moldovan. The Emirati Interior Ministry described Kogan as being “missing and out of contact.”
“Specialised authorities immediately began search and investigation operations upon receiving the report,” the Interior Ministry said.
Netanyahu told a regular Cabinet meeting later Sunday that he was “deeply shocked” by Kogan's disappearance and death. He said he appreciated the cooperation of the UAE in the investigation and said that ties between the two countries would continue to be strengthened.
Israel's largely ceremonial president, Isaac Herzog, condemned the killing and thanked Emirati authorities for "their swift action." He said he trusts they “will work tirelessly to bring the perpetrators to justice.”
Kogan was an emissary of the Chabad Lubavitch movement, a prominent and highly observant branch of ultra-Orthodox Judaism based in Brooklyn's Crown Heights neighborhood in New York City. It said he was last seen in Dubai. The UAE has a burgeoning Jewish community, with synagogues and businesses catering to kosher diners.
The Rimon Market, a Kosher grocery store that Kogan managed on Dubai's busy Al Wasl Road, was shut Sunday. As the wars have roiled the region, the store has been the target of online protests by supporters of the Palestinians. Mezuzahs on the front and the back doors of the market appeared to have been ripped off when an Associated Press journalist stopped by on Sunday.
Kogan's wife, Rivky, is a US citizen who lived with him in the UAE. She is the niece of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, who was killed in the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
The UAE is an autocratic federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula and is also home to Abu Dhabi. Local Jewish officials in the UAE declined to comment.
While the Israeli statement did not mention Iran, Iranian intelligence services have carried out past kidnappings in the UAE.
Western officials believe Iran runs intelligence operations in the UAE and keeps tabs on the hundreds of thousands of Iranians living across the country.
Iran is suspected of kidnapping and later killing British Iranian national Abbas Yazdi in Dubai in 2013, though Tehran has denied involvement. Iran also kidnapped Iranian German national Jamshid Sharmahd in 2020 from Dubai, taking him back to Tehran, where he was executed in October.
