Bangla Press Desk: Bangladesh has urged India to expedite the process of returning ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who has been sentenced to death for crimes against humanity.
At the same time, Dhaka has also requested India to hand over the accused in the murder case of Sharif Osman Hadi, convenor of Inqilab Moncho.
The requests were made during a meeting between Prime Minister Tarique Rahman and Indian High Commissioner Dinesh Trivedi at the Secretariat on Monday morning, the prime minister’s Deputy Press Secretary Shahadat Hossain Shadhin.
He told bdnews24.com, “At the meeting, Bangladesh expressed its expectation that India would expedite the process of extraditing Sheikh Hasina.
“India was also urged once again to return to Bangladesh the killers involved in the murder of Shaheed Osman Hadi.”
In November, Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal sentenced Hasina to death in absentia over allegations that she ordered a deadly crackdown to suppress the student protests in 2024.
Relations between Dhaka and New Delhi deteriorated sharply after India gave Hasina refuge. Dhaka has repeatedly urged New Delhi to send her back to Bangladesh.
Hasina, who is living in exile in India with a death sentence hanging over her, has told Reuters that she plans to return to Bangladesh around December and surrender to the court.
Around two and a half months after Hadi was shot and later died under hospital care in December last year, the main accused, Faisal Karim Masud, and his associate, Alamgir Hossain, were arrested in West Bengal. Bangladesh has since been requesting India to return them.
At 11am on Monday, Indian High Commissioner Trivedi paid his first courtesy call on Prime Minister Tarique. Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman and the prime minister’s Foreign Affairs Advisor Humayun Kabir were present during the meeting.
Deputy Press Secretary Shadhin said, “Important bilateral issues between the two countries were discussed. Prime Minister Tarique Rahman emphasised the need to create a suitable environment to further advance bilateral relations between the two countries.”
Shadhin said the prime minister welcomed India’s new high commissioner. Trivedi also briefed the prime minister on his experience during his first two months in office in Dhaka.
