New Delhi: Bangladesh has lashed out at India for allowing ousted premier Sheikh Hasina to hold a live media interaction from New Delhi, calling the move a direct affront to its sovereignty and a serious setback to efforts to reset bilateral ties.
In a sharply worded statement released on Wednesday, Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was “outraged” that Hasina, whom it labelled an “absconding convicted genocider”, was permitted to take part in a live media interaction in the Indian capital, where she and her close aides allegedly unleashed “venomous vitriol” against Bangladesh and its people.
The ministry said the event was a “grievous insult” to those killed during the 2024 uprising and an affront to Bangladesh’s sovereignty, coming as the country marked the second anniversary of what it calls the July Revolution.
The foreign ministry noted that it had conveyed its concerns to the Government of India in advance about the “likely ramifications” of such an event for the bilateral reset, yet the interaction was permitted to take place, as reported by The New Indian Express.
‘Reverse The Tide Of History’
The ministry further alleged that Hasina was seeking to deny UN-established facts, including the “gruesome killing of the innocent civilians including minor children during July-August 2024 by the fascist regime”. It called this a “futile attempt by the absconding convicted mass murderer Hasina and her criminal cohort to reverse the tide of history”, adding that “the people of Bangladesh had already rejected such heinous attempts in the past and continue to do so now”.
Reaffirming its commitment to the “ideals of the July Revolution”, the Dhaka said the people of Bangladesh had resolved that the country would “never again go back to the dark days of fascism” and would “never be a client state”. It insisted that Hasina and her political network “will never have a place in the polity of Bangladesh”.
Extradition And Bilateral Ties
While reaffirming its desire for a “constructive and mutually beneficial relationship with India based on sovereign equality, mutual respect and non-interference”, The ministry said it was let down by India’s failure so far to act on its extradition pleas for Hasina filed under the 2013 bilateral treaty.
The foreign ministry said that letting Hasina interact publicly with the media, while extradition pleas remained pending, had deeply hurt public feeling in Bangladesh and was damaging to the development of harmonious bilateral relations between the two neighbours.