Bangladesh has officially demanded that India hand over former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, only hours after a Dhaka tribunal sentenced her to death for crimes against humanity linked to last year’s violent student uprising.
Hasina, 78, was ousted in August 2024 during mass protests and fled to India, where she has remained in hiding. Her long rule, strongly backed by New Delhi, is now at the center of a political storm as relations between the two neighbours grow increasingly strained.
The court also handed down a death sentence in absentia to former interior minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, whose location is unknown but whom Dhaka believes to be inside India as well.
In a strongly worded statement, Bangladesh’s foreign ministry said New Delhi has an “obligatory responsibility” to extradite both fugitives, warning that granting them asylum would be “extremely unfriendly and an affront to justice.”
India responded cautiously, saying only that it had “noted the verdict” and remains committed to Bangladesh’s peace, democracy, and stability, without directly addressing the extradition demand.
A Historic and Controversial Verdict
Interim leader Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate heading Bangladesh’s caretaker government, hailed the verdict as “historic” and urged citizens to remain peaceful.
The charges against Hasina center on a deadly crackdown on a student-led movement between July 15 and August 5, 2024, during which a UN report says up to 1,400 people were killed, mostly by security forces.
Prosecutors claim they uncovered evidence directly linking Hasina to the order to use lethal force. She was represented by a state-appointed lawyer, who argued the allegations were baseless.
Hasina, speaking to Reuters earlier, dismissed the entire trial as a “politically motivated charade” orchestrated by an unelected, hostile administration. She insists she had no role in the use of force and was denied due process.
Tensions Rise Ahead of Elections
Security across Dhaka and major cities remains tight following the verdict. Dozens of crude bombs have exploded in recent days and multiple vehicles were set ablaze, though no casualties were reported.
The interim government is preparing for parliamentary elections in February, but Hasina has warned that millions of Awami League supporters will boycott the polls.
As Bangladesh navigates one of the most turbulent moments in its political history, the fate of Sheikh Hasina now rests heavily on how India responds to Dhaka’s urgent extradition request.
#BangladeshNews #SheikhHasina #SouthAsiaPolitics #IndiaBangladesh #HumanRights #PoliticalCrisis
