Dhaka has renewed its request to New Delhi for the extradition of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed, who was sentenced to death in absentia on charges of committing “crimes against humanity” during protests in July 2024.
According to a press statement released by the interim government’s foreign affairs advisor, Touhid Hussain, on Sunday, a formal request was delivered to India on Friday. The statement, as reported by the official Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha news agency, specified that the communication sought the extradition of Sheikh Hasina, along with former Interior Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, to Bangladesh under the existing extradition treaty between the two nations.
Hussain noted that previous extradition requests for Hasina had gone unanswered by India. He emphasized that “the situation is different now… judicial procedures have been completed, and the verdict has been issued.”
On November 17th, Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal sentenced Sheikh Hasina Wazed to death after convicting her of “crimes against humanity” stemming from the July 2024 protests. These protests were triggered by a government decision to grant preferential employment opportunities in the public sector to descendants of participants in the 1971 War of Independence. This move sparked widespread outrage among students, who viewed it as unjust discrimination.
Despite the Supreme Court’s subsequent reduction of these quotas in late July, the demonstrations persisted, with students now demanding justice for the victims of clashes with security forces. Local sources indicate that the protests and related violence resulted in hundreds of deaths and thousands of arrests, marking an unprecedented period of political turmoil in the country. At the height of the crisis, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed reportedly left her official residence by military helicopter for India, while protestors stormed the Prime Minister’s Office in Dhaka.
