Sentenced to Chaos

A death sentence to Sheikh Hasina hiding in Delhi, a fractured political system trying to repair ties with Pakistan and elections round the corner, Bangladesh has become a headache for India

- Seema Guha

THE stakes were already stacked against former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The outcome was a given. On November 17, crowds gathered in the early hours outside the Dhaka courthouse in anticipation of the death sentence. Yet, when the International Crimes Tribunal-Bangladesh (ICT) made the announcement, awarding the death sentence, the crowd broke into spontaneous applause. Young people, who led the protests last year, distributed sweets, hugged each other and hailed the verdict as overdue justice for a leader they accuse of ordering a massacre of her own citizens.

Hasina, the 78-year-old daughter of Mujibur Rahman, the founder of Bangladesh, was convicted in absentia of crimes against humanity. Her home minister Asaduzzaman Khan was awarded the death sentence along with her. Inside the court, lawyers and families of victims clapped and hooted in appreciation as they heard the dire pronouncement.

Ironically, the ICT was set up by Hasina to try those who had collaborated with Pakistan during the 1971 war of independence. She was bitterly criticised for bringing in what the then opposition dubbed as a kangaroo court. The same terms are now being used by the Awami League supporters to describe the ICT.

Hasina's response to the verdict was defiant, calling it "biased and politically motivated" and rigged "by an unelected government with no democratic mandate".

Following the judgement, Bangladesh has once again asked India to hand over Hasina, saying that the extradition treaty of 2013 makes it obligatory for India to do so. New Delhi is unlikely to oblige.

"Geopolitically, there is no way that India will ever agree to extradite Hasina. The current dispensation in Bangladesh is infested with anti-Indian Jamaat activists who are Pakistani supporters and who worked against the liberation of Bangladesh in 1971. India can never succumb to their demands," says retired diplomat Ashok Sajjanhar.