Bangladesh urges India to handover Hasina after she gets death sentence

INDIA SAYS IT WILL ENGAGE WITH ALL STAKEHOLDERS

- VINAY KUMAR, SIMONTINI BHATTACHARJEE

The interim government in Bangladesh has urged India to extradite former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and former Interior Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal after both of them were awarded death sentence for their role in the crackdown against student protests that led to the killing of more than a thousand citizens.

In a statement issued on Monday, Bangladesh said that India was obliged to send Sheikh Hasina back to Dhaka under an extradition treaty. The former Prime Minister had fled Dhaka after violent student protests in August last year and had taken shelter in India.

Hours after the verdict, Bangladesh's Foreign Ministry demanded that Hasina and former home minister Kamal be immediately handed over under an extradition treaty in view of their sentencing.

"We call on the Indian government to immediately hand over these two convicted individuals to the Bangladeshi authorities," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement in Bengali. "This is also a duty for India, as per the extradition treaty existing between the two countries," it said.

"It would be an extremely unfriendly act and a contempt for justice if any other country were to grant asylum to these individuals convicted of crimes against humanity," the ministry said.

Taking note of the statement, External Affairs Ministry promised to "engage constructively with all stakeholders."

"As a close neighbour, India remains committed to the best interests of the people of Bangladesh, including peace, democracy, inclusion and stability in that country," MEA said. "We will always engage constructively with all stakeholders to that end," the measured statement by the MEA said.