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It’s a strange twist of fate when losing the highest office in a country brings you a freedom you haven't known since you were a child. For Sheikh Hasina, the former Prime Minister of Bangladesh, life has taken an unexpected turn. After being forced from power in a wave of student-led protests this past August, she has found a quiet refuge in Delhi, and with it, a sense of liberation she has been missing for nearly five decades.
"I feel so free," she said in a recent interview, a simple statement that carries the weight of a lifetime spent in the public eye, constantly surrounded by heavy security. For someone who has survived multiple assassination attempts, a simple walk in the park was an impossible luxury.
Now, things are different.
A New, Simpler Life in Delhi
What does freedom look like for someone who was one of the world's longest-serving female leaders? It looks like taking morning walks without a battalion of guards. It looks like visiting the National Museum in Delhi to see ancient artifacts, just like any other visitor. It's a life without the constant pressure and protocol of being a prime minister.
"The last time I lived like this was 49 years ago," Hasina shared, a poignant reference to the tragic year of 1975 when her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the first president of Bangladesh, was assassinated along with most of her family. It was India that gave her and her sister refuge back then, and once again, the country has become her temporary home.
A Heart Still in Bangladesh
But while Sheikh Hasina enjoys her personal liberty, her heart and mind are still firmly fixed on her homeland. She is deeply concerned about the current state of affairs in Bangladesh, now led by an interim government headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.
She minces no words, calling it an "unconstitutional, unelected government."
Her worries extend to her party workers and the general public, especially with elections scheduled for the near future. She speaks of the violence that has plagued Bangladesh's politics and misses the people she led for so long. The new freedom is welcome, but it comes at the cost of being away from her country and her people, a price that is clearly heavy on her heart.
For now, Sheikh Hasina navigates a life of strange contrasts—the freedom to walk down any street in Delhi, weighed against the deep concern for the political path her country is now on.
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