The then Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, resigned and fled to India a couple of weeks ago in the face of the student movement. He has been there ever since. Several cases have been filed against him in the country on the charges of suppression and killing of the agitators. Mohammad Touhid Hossain, the foreign advisor of the interim government, has indicated that a request may be made to send back Sheikh Hasina to the Indian government for the sake of their trial.
In an interview given to Reuters last Thursday (August 15), he said that there are many cases against Sheikh Hasina. If the Ministry of Home Affairs and Law decides, then we have to request them (India) to send her (Sheikh Hasina) back to Bangladesh. It will be embarrassing for Indian government. India knows this and I am sure they will take care of it.
Now, if Bangladesh really requests the Indian government to send back Sheikh Hasina, what will New Delhi do? Will they send back the former prime minister? What is the extradition agreement between India and Bangladesh? These questions are going around in everyone’s mind.
What is in the extradition treaty?
An extradition treaty was signed between India and Bangladesh in 2013. The agreement allows the two countries to exchange convicted or undertrial defendants as needed.
An amendment was added to the extradition treaty in 2016. It allows for commutation of convicts who have been sentenced for more than one year. However, this policy will not apply to political prisoners and asylum seekers.
What is applicable to Sheikh Hasina?
The Government of Bangladesh has to make a formal request to the Ministry of External Affairs of India to bring back Sheikh Hasina. Because, the central authority for extradition in India is this ministry.
Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal was asked on Friday (August 16) whether Sheikh Hasina would be sent back if Bangladesh requested. At that time he avoided the matter very carefully.
Calling it a ‘speculative question’, Randhir said he was not in favor of answering such questions. According to him, the situation is still changing.
However, BNP leader and former minister of Bangladesh Abdul Moin Khan thinks that the extradition agreement may not work in the case of Sheikh Hasina. Because the agreement does not provide for the return of political asylum seekers.
He told the Indian news media Indian Express that the Indian government has not yet clarified how and on what basis Sheikh Hasina, who fled Bangladesh, has been accommodated.
Abdul Moin Khan said, it is clear that Sheikh Hasina will stay in India for the time being. It now depends on the Indian authorities, policy makers, politicians and their foreign ministry, under what circumstances he had to leave the country and whether patronizing him and allowing him to make statements that go against the people of Bangladesh would be conducive to India-Bangladesh friendly relations.
In an interview given to CNA, Jindal School of International Affairs professor Sriradha Dutta also mentioned that it is now up to New Delhi to consider Dhaka’s request based on the allegations that Bangladesh has leveled against Sheikh Hasina.
Sheikh Hasina’s relationship with India is very old and deep. After his entire family including his parents were killed in 1975, he settled in a neighboring country. He was then granted political asylum by New Delhi. The then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi went to meet Sheikh Hasina soon after returning from Germany. In recent years, he maintained good relations with India and the Narendra Modi-led government.
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