From ‘Sheikh Hasina does not flee’ to flight

On July 22, 2024, Bangladesh was gripped by one of the most critical moments of the student-led quota reform movement.

A nationwide curfew was in force, the army patrolled the streets, internet and mobile networks remained shutdown, and the economy reeled from massive losses following days of deadly clashes.

It was against this backdrop that then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina met leading business figures at her official residence, Gonobhaban.

The meeting was convened as the business community pressed for an immediate return to normalcy.

Industry leaders urged the government to lift the curfew, restore internet connectivity and ensure security on the Dhaka-Chattogram highway, the country’s main economic artery.

Businesses estimated the unrest had already cost more than $1.2 billion in just a few days.
At the meeting, Hasina made a declaration that would later become one of the most politically ironic statements of the July-August uprising.

“Rumours have been spread during the movement that Sheikh Hasina has fled. But I want to tell them that Sheikh Hasina has not fled. Sheikh Hasina does not flee,” she said.

The remark reflected the confidence of a prime minister who, at that moment, appeared determined to hold power despite the deepening crisis. The business leaders present publicly echoed their support for her government.

Among them was Hamim Group Chairman A.K. Azad, who offered a particularly emphatic pledge of loyalty, telling Hasina: “First, I want you; second, I want you; and ultimately, I want you”—as head of government.

The meeting took place a day after the Supreme Court delivered a landmark verdict sharply reducing quotas in government jobs, setting merit-based recruitment at 93 percent and reserving 7 percent for specific groups. Yet the ruling did nothing to end the unrest.

By then, the student movement had outgrown its original demand for quota reform.

Protesters were now calling for justice for those killed in the violence, the release of detained activists, an end to the curfew and full restoration of internet access.

They had given the government a 48-hour ultimatum to meet these demands, even as the country remained under curfew and a widespread communications blackout.

The government, for its part, tried to project stability. Business leaders, their factories, supply chains and commercial operations badly disrupted, sought assurances that normal economic activity would resume, and the authorities began gradually easing restrictions and restoring connectivity.

But beneath the surface calm, the political crisis was deepening. The crackdown on protesters, the mounting death toll and continued arrests only intensified public anger.

What had begun as a movement against the reinstated quota system was fast turning into a mass uprising demanding accountability—and, ultimately, the government’s resignation.

The contrast between July 22 and August 5 could hardly have been starker.

On July 22, Hasina told business leaders that “Sheikh Hasina does not flee,” and prominent businessmen, including A.K. Azad, publicly voiced their wish to see her remain prime minister. Thirteen days later, the political landscape had transformed completely.

On August 5, after weeks of escalating protests and a nationwide non-cooperation movement, Sheikh Hasina resigned and left Bangladesh.

Reports said she departed aboard a military aircraft for India as protesters flooded the streets and her government collapsed.

Army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman announced that an interim government would be formed.

Her departure ended her 16-year second stint in power and marked one of the most dramatic political reversals in Bangladesh’s history.

The July 22 meeting with business leaders thus stands as a striking snapshot of the final days of Hasina’s rule—a moment when she was still insisting she would never flee, even as influential business figures publicly rallied behind her leadership.

Within less than two weeks, a mass uprising had overturned that entire equation.

The words “Sheikh Hasina does not flee,” spoken in a moment of apparent defiance, would come to be remembered in sharp, almost bitter contrast to the events of August 5—when she left the country aboard a military aircraft as her government collapsed around her.