New Delhi: Bangladeshi media reports say Khaleda Zia is looking at a new home in Saudi Arabia in exchange for her son Arafat Rahman Coco's freedom.
Coco was arrested on Monday and released later that night. Meanwhile, Sheikh Hasina, a bitter political rival, has told CNN-IBN she is returning to Bangladesh on April 23. Could she be the next leader to be forced into exile?
"These may well be some of the options they are looking at. They should think this through very carefully," says Director of the Delhi based Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies (IPCS) Maj Gen Dipankar Banerjee (retd).
The two women's respective family dynasties have dominated Bangladesh's politics since independence from Pakistan in 1971 and are blamed for corruption, the rise of radical Islam and undermining of democratic institutions.
And the Bangladeshi people have so far supported the military-backed interim government because they see it as trying to clean up the system. But the Bangladeshis have a democratic ethos and they have a vibrant civil society.
The begums' exit from the political scene, some say, weakens democracy in Bangladesh and could set the stage for a prolonged, and unpopular, military rule.
"To exclude, to suppress and to keep apart the natural political process won't be acceptable to the people of Bangladesh," says Maj Gen Dipankar Banerjee (retd).
There are already signs of a creeping coup in Bangladesh and whispers that an all party government may be appointed, not elected.
A powerful National Security Council is in the works and the army-backed interim government enjoys sweeping powers to detain, deny bail and conduct summary trials.
So, if Army rule continues despite popular discontent, one could see violence on the streets of Bangladesh once again.
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