The Sheikh Hasina extradition demand, India’s options
Aklavya Anand, Shailesh Kumar
Months after ousted Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled to New Delhi seeking exile during anti-government protests in August 2024, Bangladesh, on December 23, 2024, formally asked India to extradite her for “judicial process”. Dhaka sent a note verbale to India’s External Affairs Ministry on the same day, with the Press Secretary to Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser saying, “We want our relations with India to be based on fairness, equality and dignity”, ahead of India’s Foreign Secretary’s visit to Bangladesh with the hope of rekindling constructive relations between the two countries.
Ms. Hasina was declared an absconder for not surrendering after leaving Dhaka on August 5, 2024. A first information report was filed on August 13, 2024 against her and other former associates. She has been charged with conspiracy to eliminate the students involved in protests, and the mistreatment and the killing of hundreds of the protesters, which are labelled as genocide and crimes against humanity. The state machinery is working to collect credible and probative facts for the prosecution to make a strong and winnable case against her. The Dhaka-based International Crimes Tribunal on October 17 issued arrest warrants for Ms. Hasina and 45 others including former Cabinet ministers, advisers and military and civil officials. On November 18, the Tribunal gave the investigation authority a month’s time, with the date of December 17, 2024 for them to wrap up the investigation. A charge sheet will be filed soon.
