NEW DELHI/DHAKA: The interim government in Bangladesh has urged India to extradite former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and former Interior Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal after both of them were awarded death sentence for their role in the crackdown against student protests that led to the killing of more than a thousand citizens.
In a statement issued on Monday, Bangladesh said that India was obliged to send Sheikh Hasina back to Dhaka under an extradition treaty. The former Prime Minister had fled Dhaka after violent student protests in August last year and had taken shelter in India.
Hours after the verdict, Bangladesh’s Foreign Ministry demanded that Hasina and former home minister Kamal be immediately handed over under an extradition treaty in view of their sentencing.
“We call on the Indian government to immediately hand over these two convicted individuals to the Bangladeshi authorities,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement in Bengali. “This is also a duty for India, as per the extradition treaty existing between the two countries,” it said.
“It would be an extremely unfriendly act and a contempt for justice if any other country were to grant asylum to these individuals convicted of crimes against humanity,” the ministry said.
Taking note of the statement, External Affairs Ministry promised to “engage constructively with all stakeholders.’’
“As a close neighbour, India remains committed to the best interests of the people of Bangladesh, including peace, democracy, inclusion and stability in that country,’’ MEA said. “We will always engage constructively with all stakeholders to that end,’’ the measured statement by the MEA said.
The implications for the extradition request by Dhaka are significant. While India has not outrightly rejected the request, the language of the MEA’s statement prepares the ground for doing so. By avoiding any comment on the Tribunal’s ruling, New Delhi is seen to be distancing itself from a process that has been criticised as politically driven. This leaves room for India to invoke the “political offence” exception common in many extradition agreements.
The repeated references to “democracy and stability’’ allow India to argue that handing over a former elected leader to face execution could destabilise Bangladesh and the wider region — a justification that can be used to delay or deny extradition without provoking a diplomatic breakdown.
India’s decision to emphasise dialogue with “all stakeholders” further signals that it does not view the Interim government’s authority as absolute, and that any major step, including extradition, must be considered in a broader political context. This effectively weakens the urgency of Dhaka’s demand and gives India room to slow the process through consultations and legal reviews. Earlier in the day, Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) sentenced former Sheikh Hasina to death in a case over alleged crimes against humanity. The court, in a 453-page judgement, found Hasina guilty on three counts, concluding a months-long trial that found her guilty of ordering a deadly crackdown on a student-led uprising last year that led to the fall of her Awami League government.
The three-member tribunal, headed by Justice Mohd Golam Mortuza Majumder, also pronounced its judgement against Hasina’s two aides, former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, over the same charges.
The court said the three accused acted in connivance with each other to commit atrocities in order to kill protesters throughout the country. However, it pardoned the former police chief, who “sought an apology from the tribunal and the people of the country”.
Hasina and Kamal have been declared fugitives and tried in absentia, while Mamun initially faced trial in person before turning approver. The verdict comes months before parliamentary elections in Bangladesh. Hasina’s Awami League party has been barred from contesting the elections scheduled to be held in February.
The verdict comes months before parliamentary elections in Bangladesh. Hasina’s Awami League party has been barred from contesting the elections scheduled to be held in February.
In her reaction, Hasina said the judgement has been made by a “rigged tribunal established and presided over by an unelected government with no democratic mandate.”
“They are biased and politically motivated. In their distasteful call for the death penalty, they reveal the brazen and murderous intent of extremist figures within the interim government to remove Bangladesh’s last elected prime minister, and to nullify the Awami League as a political force,” she said in a statement.
Hasina said she was not afraid to face her “accusers” in a proper tribunal where the evidence can be weighed and tested fairly.
“That is why I have repeatedly challenged the interim government to bring these charges before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague.”
Meanwhile, former premier Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) criticised India for giving shelter to “fugitive” Hasina.
“India has given shelter to a fugitive criminal. But the country is giving her the chance to do sabotage against Bangladesh, and this is not a lawful behaviour from India. This is very unfortunate,” BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi was quoted as saying by the Daily Star newspaper.
Speaking at a press conference, the BNP leader said a country like India, which upholds democracy and has an independent judiciary, should not allow Hasina the space to engage in wrongful activities.
Right-wing Jamaat-e-Islami also urged India to extradite Hasina. “If one claims to behave as a good neighbour, if one aspires to maintain friendly relations, this is their foremost responsibility,” Jamaat Secretary General Mia Golam Porwar said, referring to Hasina’s extradition.