India says it is examining a request from Bangladesh for the extradition of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was recently sentenced to death in absentia over a crackdown against a popular uprising.
A spokesperson for India’s Ministry of External Affairs, Randhir Jaiswal, told reporters on Wednesday that his government was examining the request from Dhaka for the extradition of the 78-year-old, who fled to India after being ousted in a mass uprising in August last year.
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“As part of ongoing judicial and internal legal processes, we remain committed to the best interest of the people of Bangladesh, including peace, democracy, inclusion and stability in that country,” Jaiswal said, adding that New Delhi would “continue to engage constructively in this regard with all stakeholders”.
Bangladesh initially requested Hasina’s extradition last year. On Sunday, officials said they had recently sent another letter, urging New Delhi to hand over their fugitive former leader.
That letter followed Hasina’s conviction by a special International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Dhaka for crimes against humanity, which saw her sentenced to death on November 17.
After the court ruling, Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that India had an “obligatory responsibility” under a bilateral extradition treaty signed in 2013 to extradite the former leader, adding that allowing her to remain in India was a “grave act of unfriendly behaviour”.
The statement added that it was “a travesty of justice for any other country to grant asylum to these individuals convicted of crimes against humanity”.
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But observers said India is highly unlikely to agree to hand over Hasina.
“India understands this [Hasina’s case] to be political vindictiveness of the ruling political forces in Bangladesh,” Sanjay Bhardwaj, professor of South Asian Studies at New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University, told Al Jazeera last week.
Hasina, who led Bangladesh for 15 years, fled to India during the height of the mass uprising against her hardline rule. More than 1,400 people were killed in the crackdown against protesters, the United Nations said.
Bangladesh is due in February to hold its first general election since the uprising, and Hasina’s party, the Awami League, is barred from participating.
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