The Bangladesh Interim Government is facing an increased pressure from the public to bring former prime minister Sheikh Hasina back from India as she’s commonly seen responsible for the death of hundreds of protesters during the weeks of unrest that led to the fall of her government.
Reports say the government is busy preparing extradition request to be sent to India soon.
Muhammad Yunus, head of the government, said Hasina should ‘keep quiet’ until “Bangladesh wants her back”.
Meanwhile, there has an investigation against the ousted leader on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. The government has also revoked her diplomatic passport and indicated plans to issue an arrest warrant against her.
The bilateral treaty between India and Bangladesh would permit her return for a criminal trial, however, it could be refused in case the offence is of a “political character”.
Given the nature of the treaty between the two neighbors, it’s not clear if India would send her back to Bangladesh.
According to reports, the Bangladesh government would soon start the legal procedure to bring Hasina back.
Interestingly, Bangladesh signed the criminal extradition treaty with India in 2013 while Sheikh Hasina was in power.
“As she has been made the main accused of the massacres in Bangladesh, we will try to legally bring her back to Bangladesh to face trial,” a government official was quoted as saying in the reports.