Sheikh Rehana, Hasina's Lifelong Shadow After Massacre Wiped Off Family

Sheikh Rehana was with her elder sister Sheikh Hasina in Europe when her father and Bangladesh president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, mother Begum Fazilatunnesa and brothers Kamal, Jamal and Russel were massacred on August 15, 1975 in a military coup. Forty-nine years later, as Sheikh Hasina was forced to quit as Prime Minister and flee the country amid nationwide protests, Rehana was again with her in the military aircraft that brought them to India.

Sixty-eight-year-old Sheikh Rehana, the fourth of Mujibur Rahman's five children, has often accompanied elder sister Sheikh Hasina on her official trips and is one of the prominent leaders of the Awami League. A constant companion, she also organised party meetings on Sheikh Hasina's behalf when she was imprisoned in 2007-2008 during an Emergency in the country.

The 1975 Massacre

On July 1975, Sheikh Hasina and her sister Rehana flew to Germany where Hasina's husband and physicist, late MA Wazed Miah, had been working. The whole family came to the airport to see them off. Little did the two sisters know that they won't see their parents, brothers and sisters-in-law again. Five decades later, Ms Hasina told ANI in an interview, "Because my husband was abroad, so I used to live in the same house. That day everybody was there: my father, mother, my three brothers, two newly-wedded sisters-in-law, everybody was there. That was the last day..."

A fortnight later, Mujibur Rahman, his wife, three sons and two daughters-in-law were massacred at their home in Dhanmondi. Along with the staff, a total of 36 people were killed by Bangladesh Army personnel. Hasina, her husband and children Sajeeb Wazed and Saima Wazed, and Rehana took refuge in India.

India, Sheikh Hasina had later recalled, was one of the first countries to extend help. "Mrs Indira Gandhi immediately sent information that she wanted to give us, I mean, security and shelter. So we received, especially from Marshal Tito from Yugoslavia, and Mrs Gandhi. We decided to come back here (Delhi) because we had in our mind that if we go to Delhi, from Delhi we'll be able to go back to our country. And then we'll be able to know how many members of family are still alive," she said.

Sheikh Rehana's Family

A couple of years after the massacre, Rehana married Bangladeshi academic Shafique Ahmed Siddiqui. The wedding took place in London and Sheikh Hasina could not attend, reportedly due to lack of money. Sheikh Rehana has three children - Radwan Mujib Siddiq is a strategy consultant and also a trustee of Awami League's research wing, Centre for Research and Information. Daughter Tulip Siddiq is a Labour Party politician in the UK and currently holds positions of Economic Secretary to the Treasury and City Minister in the Keir Starmer dispensation. Rehana's third child, Azmina Siddiq Rupanti, works with a risk consultancy.

The 2024 Escape

Call it coincidence or fate, Sheikh Rehana was with sister Hasina in the second big escape of her life. This time, the two knew what was coming. The protesters were at their doorstep and time was running out. But the elder sister was adamant. Her advisors were urging her to let go and escape, warning that she may not get the chance later. But Hasina refused to budge. Helpless, they turned to Sheikh Rehana to help convince the Prime Minister, according to a report by Bangladesh newspaper Prothom Alo. Rehana spoke to Hasina, but she did not agree.

Eventually, it was a call from Hasina's son Sajeeb Wazed that convinced her. The two sisters, their fates intertwined by destiny, packed their bags and boarded a chopper as protesters stormed their home and vandalised the statues of their late father, Mujibur Rahman. Forty-nine years on, it's another exile for Hasina, and Rehana is with her this time too.