Where is Obaidul Quader who shouted 'I will not flee'? No trace

"We were born in this country, we will die in this country, we will not flee. If necessary, we will go to Fakhrul Saheb's house"—the then Awami League General Secretary and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said these words with force, addressing the BNP Secretary General at a public meeting in Rajshahi in early 2024. But since former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country on August 5 in the historic uprising of the students and the public, there has been no trace of Obaidul Quader.

After the fall of the Awami League government, major leaders went into hiding or left the country one by one. But Obaidul Quader, who was the main attraction and headline of the daily media before the fall of the government, is no longer in any physical or virtual world. Even though the other top leaders of the party who are in hiding are staying in India or other countries and maintaining contact, none of them has any information about Obaidul Quader's current whereabouts.

According to close sources, Quader was staying in his Dhanmondi residence area until noon on August 5. However, since then he has not had any contact with his party colleagues or anyone close to him. There is extreme surprise and anger among the leaders and activists within the party as to why and how he has been hiding for a long time despite preferring to be in the limelight.

Meanwhile, Obaidul Quader's 'I will not run away' statement has now become one of the elements of trolls and memes in the internet world. Several parodies and songs have been created on his statement on social media and have gone viral. It is worth noting that he has not posted anything new on his verified Facebook page since July 5, 2024, where almost half a million netizens expressed their anger and humor with 'ha ha' reactions to his last post.