India Legally Obligated to Extradite Hasina: Muniruzzaman
President of the Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS) Maj. Gen (retd) ANM Muniruzzaman has said India is “almost legally bound” to return ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to Bangladesh under the bilateral extradition treaty. Responding to a question during a session at the Bay of Bengal Conversation in Dhaka, he said, “We have an extradition treaty under that extradition treaty India is almost legally bound to send her back.”
He said India, as a friendly neighbour, should respect Bangladesh’s legal processes and return Hasina without delay. “If India respects international norms and rules, and international order, then India as a friendly neighbour should respect Bangladesh’s legal systems,” he said. The security analyst said Hasina’s trial had met international legal standards. And that's a legal system that should be respected by all our neighbours, he observed.
“If that respect is there,” he said, “by all accounts Sheikh Hasina should be returned to Bangladesh.” He questioned how India would react if Bangladesh housed convicted Indian nationals and declined to return them despite formal requests. He said, “If that is the case, anybody convicted under Bangladesh's law by international standards, India is legally bound to send a person back to Bangladesh. And by all those accounts, we demand that New Delhi sends her (Hasina) back to Bangladesh.”
The plenary session titled ‘Fractured Orders, Fluid Loyalties: Power Politics in the Post-Alignment Age’ was also attended by Julia Roknifard of Taylor’s University, Malaysia; Jovan Ratkovic of Agora Strategy Institute; Leonardo Paz Neves of the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV), Brazil and Marian Vidaurri of Cornell University, USA. David Patrician of RTL Nord, Germany moderated the discussion.
Hasina’s first extradition request remains pending, though New Delhi has acknowledged receiving Dhaka’s formal communication. Following the recent verdict, Bangladesh urged India to “immediately hand over” Sheikh Hasina and former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, both convicted of crimes against humanity. On November 17, the International Crimes Tribunal-1 sentenced both to death for atrocities committed during last year’s July–August mass uprising.
“It would be a grave act of unfriendly conduct and a travesty of justice for any other country to grant shelter to these individuals convicted of crimes against humanity,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement after the verdict.
