Sheikh Hasina, prime minister of Bangladesh, has opened up about horrific memories of how her family was murdered during the 1971 war, and how she was given refuge by then-Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in Delhi where she lived in disguise to escape her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's assassins.
In an emotional interview with ANI, Hasina recalls bidding farewell to her entire family at a Bangladesh airport as she was leaving for Germany to join her husband, a nuclear scientist. Little did she know, it would be the last time she saw them.
On the morning of August 15, 1975, Hasina received news that her father, the legendary statesman Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, had been murdered.
Her world came crashing down when Hasina later got to know that the killers also carried out attacks at the houses of her relatives and massacred more members of her family.
"Almost 18 members and some, mostly my relatives and then some maid servants and their children and then some guests, my uncle," were among those killed, Hasina said adding that the conspirators had a clear aim that nobody from Bangabandhu's family should ever be in power again.
"My younger brother was only 10 years old; they did not spare him either," Hasina said.
She shared that she had nowhere to go at that time and the Bangladesh government did not allow them to return to their homeland. That's when the then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi, extended help and provided her with shelter and security in Delhi.
"She (Indira Gandhi) made all the arrangements for us, a job for my husband and this Pandara Road house... First 2-3 years actually it was so difficult to accept this, my children, my son was only 4 years old. My daughter, she's younger, both of them used to cry," Hasina recounted.
Hasina, who called India a "trusted friend," lived in Delhi under a different name and identity for the next six years.
“We always remember India’s contribution during the 1971 war, when I lost all my family members and had to reside in Delhi. [...] We took political asylum and stayed in Delhi for six years,” Hasina said.
However, many people back in Bangladesh wanted her to lead the Awami League party just like her father did.
"Definitely I wanted to come back to my country. But taking responsibility of such a big party, I never thought about it," she said.
Demanding punishment for her father's killers, Hasina started a campaign to rope in many eminent people in support.
She travelled to different countries during this time and even addressed a public meeting in London's York Hall on August 16, 1980.
"To bring them to justice or bring them to book, so that the trial should take place, because there was immunity granted to them. There was an ordinance, they shoot, so you cannot demand or file any case against the killers. Killers got all type of facilities and immunity, this is very unlawful. The killer... and they killed... and it is in open and they claimed that yes, they committed this crime and they were very vocal. Because they thought they are very powerful," Hasina said.
Then came a big turning point in the history of Bangladesh as Hasina was declared the president of the Awami League party in absentia. She eventually moved to Bangladesh and reached the top position in the country's political arena.
Hasina revealed that she had survived several assassination attempts.
"They tried to kill me, several times, but I survived. [...] They placed a huge bomb in my meeting place. Somehow it was discovered by just a simple man. So I survived. I don't know... you can ask God, Allah. Allah is helping me perhaps, maybe Allah has given me some job to do," she said.
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the first president of Bangladesh, and most of his family were killed on August 15, 1975 by a group of army personnel who invaded his residence amid a military coup d'etat.