India was in touch with Hasina during her ban

LONDON: The Indian government was in touch with former Bangladesh Premier Sheikh Hasina when she was in London after the Awami League leader was banned from returning home by the caretaker military-backed government.

Hasina said this shortly after the ban was lifted on Wednesday within four days after she was stopped from boarding a flight to Dhaka from London.

"India's External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee spoke to me and the Indian High Commissioner Kamalesh Sharma met me here," Hasina, Chief of the Awami League said. She did not give further details.

Hasina said her party always valued 'friendly relations with India and other neighbours.'

"It is during my regime we signed a 30-year treaty with India for sharing of the Ganges river waters. When we came to power there were 64,000 refugees in India and during my regime we brought back all the refugees."

The Awami League chief gave credit to 'media and international pressure' for the lifting of the ban.

"It is the pressure of the people at home and the role of media at home and abroad that forced the caretaker government. There was tremendous national and international pressure and because of the pressure they had to withdraw the ban," she said.

Hasina also said it was her will-power and determination to return to her motherland which prevailed upon the caretaker government to reverse its decision. 

"They thought I will wilt under pressure but they were mistaken," said Hasina, who had faced a grenade attack on her life and became deaf in her right ear.

Stating that she would like to go back to her country 'as soon as possible', 60-year-old Hasina, who ruled the country between 1996 and 2001, said the caretaker government was yet to withdraw its letter written to the British Airways not to carry Hasina on its flight in view of the ban.

During the last three days, she has been in touch with ministers, MPs and Lords here and Senators in the U.S.

Asked how she planned to tackle the murder and extortion cases filed against her by the interim Government in Dhaka, Hasina said, "They filed false cases against me. The very fact that they issued arrest warrant and the ban order simultaneously showed that they were false cases.  They had to withdraw the ban."