Bangladesh Presses India for Swift Extradition of Hasina

Bangla Press Desk:  Bangladesh urged India to expedite the extradition of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who has been sentenced to death in absentia for uprising-time crimes against humanity, as some major bilateral issues were discussed Monday.

Dhaka also requested New Delhi to hand over the suspected killers of Inquilab Mancha convener Osman Hadi, as the runaways are reportedly arrested in India.

The requests were made during a courtesy meeting between Prime Minister Tarique Rahman and Indian High Commissioner in Bangladesh Dinesh Trivedi, Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman told reporters at the Foreign Ministry after the meeting.

"Extradition of convicted Sheikh Hasina to Bangladesh came up for discussion. We asked them to expedite the extradition process. We hope India will move in a positive direction on this matter," Khalilur said.

"You know, the suspected killers of Shaheed Hadi have been arrested. We have provided them with all the documents India had requested," the foreign minister said.

"This is an extremely sensitive issue for us. We have asked them to extradite the killers to us as soon as possible," he added.

The meeting was Trivedi's first with Prime Minister Tarique Rahman since he formally began his assignment as India's high commissioner in Dhaka recently.

According to Khalilur, the meeting focused on creating an environment conducive to taking Bangladesh-India relations forward.

Asked whether issues such as border killings and the alleged push-in of Bangladeshi nationals by India were discussed, the foreign minister said they were raised, but only briefly.

"These are not issues to be discussed at the prime ministerial level. I discussed these matters with him [Trivedi] yesterday," he said.

Asked whether Bangladesh's dissatisfaction over Hasina's virtual events on August 5 was also raised during Monday's meeting, Khalilur said Dhaka had already made its position clear to India through a letter.

"We have clearly stated our position on August 5, and the Indian authorities have taken it seriously. They told me this yesterday, and today they also conveyed it to the prime minister."

Asked whether India expressed regret over what Sheikh Hasina did on August 5, Khalilur said the issue was not about an apology.

"You have to understand properly what happened. A state has three branches-the executive, the legislature and the judiciary. Convicted Hasina's matter falls under the judiciary. A court in Bangladesh tried her and sentenced her," he said.

"What happens to a convicted person? The person is taken into custody, and if they have anything to say in their defence, they should present it before the court," he added.

Khalilur accused Hasina of attacking one of the pillars of the Bangladeshi state through her activities on August 5 and said India had allowed her to do so.

"What Hasina did on the 5th was to spread hostility towards Bangladesh's judiciary, which is one of the pillars of the state, and the Indian government allowed her to do that," he said.

"I said yesterday as well that we want every country to respect the entire structure of our state. We hope the Indian government will understand this-and has understood it," he added.

The foreign minister said he was "somewhat reassured" by his discussions with the Indian side that such an incident would not be repeated.

"My understanding is that they have understood this issue, and I hope they will not do anything in the future that undermines any of the pillars of our state," he told the press.

Responding to a question he said that the decision regarding Prime Minister Tarique Rahman's Delhi visit is not yet finalised.

He mentioned that Prime Minister Tarique Rahman was invited to visit Delhi after he assumed power and he was again invited to visit Delhi to attend the BRICS conference as the chair of BIMSTEC.

If Prime Minister Tarique Rahman would join the BRICS summit was not yet finalised.

Speaking about his meeting with Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, High Commissioner Dinesh Trivedi said the meeting was so cordial that he did not feel that it was their first meeting.

"It did not feel to me that this was our first meeting. We had a very cordial and warm discussion in a very sincere and humble atmosphere," he said.

Trivedi expressed the hope that people-to-people contacts and exchanges between the two countries would increase.

He stressed the importance of people-to-people connectivity, saying that when the leaders of the two countries sit together, they will discuss various issues and find ways to resolve them.

He also said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was interested in maintaining good relations between the two countries.

Asked when the governments of the two countries would hold formal talks and whether the two leaders would meet on the sidelines of the upcoming BRICS summit, Trivedi said, "Everything will be good."

"There will be issues. There will be issues for Bangladesh, there will be issues for India. But the people have one issue -- that is good relations. And if relations are good, it becomes easier to deal with different situations," he said.

Expressing confidence about the future of Bangladesh-India relations, Trivedi said the outstanding issues would have to be resolved.

"The issues have to be resolved. I am very confident that the coming days will be good," he said.