New Delhi: It’s been 16 months since former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled to India as her 15-year rule ended amid a massive students’ uprising that left hundreds dead and thousands injured.
Hasina has remained in exile since then, even as Bangladesh wanted her back from India.
Last month, the 78-year-old Hasina was sentenced to death in absentia by a special tribunal in Dhaka for ‘crimes against humanity’ over the Awami League-helmed government’s brutal crackdown on the violent student-led protests last year.
Asked about Hasina being given shelter in India, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Saturday that the former Bangladeshi PM’s stay in India is her personal decision which was influenced by the “circumstances” that led her to the country.
Speaking to NDTV’s CEO and Editor-In-Chief Rahul Kanwal at the HT Leadership Summit, Jaishankar was asked if Hasina was welcome to stay in India for as long as she wants.
“Well, that’s a different issue, isn’t it? She came here in a certain circumstance, and I think that circumstance clearly sort of is a factor in what happens to her. But again, that is something about which she has to make up her mind.”
Following the death sentence against her and former interior minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal on November 17, Hasina once again rejected the charges, and described the judgment as “rigged” and “politically motivated” by what she termed a “kangaroo court”.
Bangladesh has formally asked India to extradite Hasina and Asaduzzaman, invoking the bilateral extradition treaty. The interim government under Muhammad Yunus claimed that New Delhi was legally bound to return the two leaders.
India’s response was that it had taken note of the verdict. “As a close neighbour, India remains committed to the best interests of the people of Bangladesh, including in peace, democracy, inclusion and stability in that country,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
