A planned meeting between ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina and senior Awami League leaders will go ahead virtually on Friday night after the face-to-face gathering at her Delhi residence was cancelled, a senior party leader has confirmed to Daily Waadaa via whatsapp.
The meeting is scheduled to begin at 9 pm Bangladesh time, the leader said, after Awami League figures who had travelled to Delhi for the gathering were informed on Thursday that the physical meeting would not take place.
Kolkata-based online news outlet The Wall also reported Friday that the meeting itself had not been cancelled but shifted online, with the Awami League dismissing reports that the programme had been scrapped as “rumours.”
The change means senior party figures based outside India, including in Europe and the United States, will also be able to participate.
Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader, who could not travel to Delhi after undergoing eye surgery, is expected to join virtually from Kolkata, according to The Wall.
The meeting had initially been planned at the Delhi bungalow where Hasina has been staying, with around 25 senior leaders expected to attend. Several had already reached the Indian capital by Thursday evening.
The Week magazine reported earlier Friday that the physical meeting had been cancelled at the last minute after some senior Awami League leaders had already arrived in Delhi. The Indian magazine cited Daily Waadaa’s earlier report that a senior party leader had confirmed the cancellation, though no reason was initially given.
The Wall subsequently reported that the decision followed advice from officials responsible for Hasina’s security and her personal doctors, who were concerned about the spread of swine flu in Delhi.
Dengue cases have also been reported in the Indian capital, but Hasina’s doctors were particularly concerned about swine flu and advised against a gathering lasting several hours given her age, according to the report.
The decision therefore affected the physical format rather than the meeting itself.
The virtual gathering is expected to focus on the Awami League’s political and organisational strategy, while Hasina’s possible return to Bangladesh has also been a subject of discussion within the party.
A section of Awami League leaders is also pushing for Hasina’s son Sajeeb Wazed Joy and daughter Saima Wazed Putul to join Friday’s meeting, The Wall reported.
Neither is part of the party’s central leadership. However, Hasina, as Awami League president, can invite people outside the central body to attend, and several other non-central leaders have reportedly been invited.
The question of the party’s future leadership has gained prominence in recent weeks. In an interview with The Wall earlier this month, Hasina said senior Presidium Member Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim would perform the duties of party president in her absence.
Joy is an Awami League member but does not hold a senior organisational position, while Putul has not formally entered party politics.
The meeting comes amid continuing tensions between Dhaka and New Delhi over Hasina’s political activities in India.
The Week noted that reports of the cancellation emerged after Dhaka protested Hasina’s participation in an event organised by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of South Asia.
India maintained that the event was organised by a private organisation and that its government had no role in it.
The magazine also reported that Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s adviser Mahdi Amin recently told Indian High Commissioner Dinesh Trivedi that individuals staying on Indian soil should not be allowed to engage in activities aimed at destabilising Bangladesh.
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