Tuesday, September 10, 2024
Year : 2, Issue: 36
Bangladesh’s new interim government wants former PM Sheikh Hasina to face trial over the deadly violence that ended with her fleeing to India. But New Delhi seems unwilling to revoke Hasina’s sanctuary.
More and more voices in Bangladesh, including its top prosecutors, are demanding the extradition of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The veteran leader fled to India in a military helicopter last month after Bangladesh was hit by a wave of student-led protests. Hundreds lost their lives in clashes between anti-government protesters, government supporters, the military and the law enforcement.
Mohammad Tajul Islam, the newly appointed chief prosecutor of Bangladesh’s war crimes tribunal, recently named Hasina “the main perpetrator” responsible for the deadly violence.
“Bangladesh has a criminal extradition treaty with India which was signed in 2013, while Sheikh Hasina’s government was in power,” Islam told reporters on Sunday.
“As she has been made the main accused of the massacres in Bangladesh, we will try to legally bring her back to Bangladesh to face trial.”
Interim leader advises Hasina to be ‘quiet’
In mid-August, Hasina released a statement demanding those “involved in killings and vandalism” during the anti-government protests be “identified and punished.”
In the statement released through her son, who is based in the US, Hasina also called upon Bangladesh to mark August 15 as the National Day of Mourning.
Hasina’s activity in India has already prompted a response from interim government leader Muhammad Yunus, who described her comments as “problematic.”
“No one is comfortable with her stance there in India because we want her back to [put her on trial]. She is there in India and at times she is talking, which is problematic. Had she been quiet, we would have forgotten it; people would have also forgotten it as she would have been in her own world,” Yunus told Indian news agency PTI. “But sitting in India, she is speaking and giving instructions. No one likes it.”
Hopes of West offering safe destination for Hasina
Former diplomats and academics consulted by DW say New Delhi is likely to resist pressure from Dhaka to deliver Hasina for trial.
“India would not, in any scenario, extradite Sheikh Hasina to Bangladesh, regardless of the pressure. However, India would prefer that she relocates to a Western haven of her choice, allowing her departure to be a quiet exit that does not strain relations with the new Bangladeshi government,” India’s former high commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria told DW. Separately, India’s former ambassador to the US, Meera Shankar, noted that Washington is not offering to accept Hasina.
“Sheikh Hasina has taken shelter in India as both the USA and UK did not offer her political asylum,” she told DW. “This is in keeping with India’s tradition.”
India says talks of extradition ‘hypothetical’
South Asia expert Sreeradha Datta also pointed to long-running links between India and Hasina’s regime, saying it was “unlikely that India will let Hasina down” by deportation. At a press briefing in late August, Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said extradition was in the “realm of hypothetical issues.”
Since the regime change in Dhaka, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken to Bangadesh’s interim leader Yunus and pledged that New Delhi will continue implementing its development projects across the border. Modi reiterated “India’s support for a democratic, stable, peaceful and progressive Bangladesh.”
Source: DW
