Exiled AL leaders in Kolkata: New Town becomes hotspot for pilates, hair transplant, and politics online

A year after Sheikh Hasina fled Bangladesh to India following a student-led mass uprising, senior Awami League leaders and former ministers in exile are rallying around the hope of her return, calling the interim government "illegal", reports The Print.

Mohammad A Arafat, former state minister for information and broadcasting, told The Print, "Bangladesh has been staring at the abyss since Hasina left. I have this one goal: to make things right in Bangladesh again. I really don't have any hobbies now, or the time to play a sport, or keep myself engaged in any other entertainment in my life." 

The 51-year-old former academic said he works around the clock, adding, "I don't even have any particular time to sleep. Sometimes, I get confused between dawn and dusk. Daily life is all about work, work, and more work."

Since 5 August 2024, roughly 1,300 Awami League leaders and activists have taken refuge in India. Many have settled in New Town, a planned satellite city near Kolkata, drawn by its modern amenities and proximity to the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport, according to The Print report published yesterday (19 August).

Among them is former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, who vanished from Dhaka last year and now resides in New Town with his family.

According to a former Awami League MP who meets him regularly, Kamal hosts party colleagues at his home and travels weekly to Delhi for meetings.

"We have not come here to relax and stay indefinitely. We have come here to stay alive and be ready to fight tomorrow," Kamal reportedly tells visitors.

Exiled Awami League leaders have now settled into routines of prayer, exercise, and online meetings with colleagues across the globe. 

A former MP from Cox's Bazar described his day while talking to The Print. "I wake up at the crack of dawn and offer my Fajr prayers at the 3BHK apartment I share with another Awami League MP. Then we both head to the neighbourhood fitness studio… I do weight training while my flatmate has enrolled for Pilates classes."

According to The Print report, Awami League leaders have said that the alleged "discreet party office" in New Town is simply a rented space for meetings. 

"There are almost 1,300 party leaders in Kolkata. We can't possibly meet at the former home minister's living room! But to call it an office would be a gross exaggeration," the former Cox's Bazar MP said.

Outside India, Harun Al Rashid, former Bangladesh ambassador to Morocco, has settled in Canada's Ottawa. Rashid told The Print that he spends most of his time writing and has completed a dystopian novel, titled "The Mapmaker's Prayers", based on Bengal's turbulent history.

Some younger leaders have taken lighter distractions. A young MP now living in New Town underwent a hair transplant in Delhi, joking, "In such trying times, a new head of hair is something to feel good about."

Yet for most, the mission remains unchanged. Arafat told The Print, "Though we are separated and isolated from our loved ones, we will continue to fight for them no matter where we are. We believe that the Bangladeshi people deserve better and our nation must be restored to the economic jewel in the crown of the region."