Three Bangladesh athletes and as many coaches are stuck in Paris due to the ongoing turmoil back home. They would now fly back to Dhaka on August 10.
Swimmers Sonia Akhter and Samiul Islam Rafi, archer Sagor Islam, archery coaching duo German Martin Frederick and Mohammad Hasan and swimming coach Abdul Hamid had gone to Charles de Gaulle airport from the Games Village but had to return since the airlines they were flying cancelled the flight.
Bangladesh Olympic Association secretary-general Sayed Shahid Reza is also in Paris along with the swimming association secretary.
The chef de mission Intekhabul Hamid Apu had already left Paris with shooter Rabibur Islam on Monday, the day the Sheikh Hasina government fell, and would land home on Wednesday.
Bangladesh sent five athletes to the Paris Games. Swimmer Sonia is the only woman participant from the country.
In Montreuil, in the eastern suburbs of the Paris, you cannot miss the mood of
the Bangladeshis. Mainly the working class, the Bangladeshis celebrated what they called the fall of an autocrat.
“It’s like we are independent again,” Jameel Miyan told The Telegraph. “We are very happy that people back home have thrown out Hasina.”
If Montreuil is celebrating, the economically well-off Bangladeshis, who mainly stay in the central district, here have their reservations.
“Is it for the betterment of the country? I do not know. Yes she has her flaws, but
people’s lives improved during Hasina’s reign,” the person, who did not want to be quoted fearing a backlash at home, said.
Even on trams and metros, you can hear Bangladeshis discussing the situation back home. During a ride from Porte de La Chapelle Arena to Montreuil, a young man in his Sylhet dialect, was having an animated conversation over the phone.
“Has our house been burnt? Are you all safe?” he was seen screaming.
Bangladeshis in Paris seem to be a divided lot.
