Bangladesh expresses shock as Hasina speaks at New Delhi event

DHAKA: Bangladesh’s government and people have expressed surprise and shock that fugitive Sheikh Hasina, convicted by the International Crimes Tribunal for crimes against humanity, was permitted to make a statement at a public event in New Delhi on January 23, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Sunday.

MoFA, in a statement, said Hasina openly called for the removal of the government of Bangladesh and issued blatant incitements to her party loyalists and the general public to carry out acts of terror to derail the upcoming general elections in Bangladesh.

“The unabashed incitements by Awami League’s leadership yet again demonstrated why the interim government had to ban its activities,” said the interim government.

Bangladesh would hold this “outfit” responsible for committing incidents of violence and terror in the run-up to the elections and on the election day, and will take appropriate actions to foil its evil conspiracies, according to the statement.

Bangladesh is deeply aggrieved that while India is yet to act on its obligations to hand Sheikh Hasina over to Bangladesh under the bilateral extradition agreement, despite repeated requests by the Bangladesh government, she has instead been allowed to make such statements from its own soil, said the ministry.

“This clearly endangers Bangladesh’s democratic transition and peace and security.”

Allowing the event to take place in the Indian capital and letting mass murderer Hasina to openly deliver her hate speech are contrary to the norms of inter-state relations, including the principles of respect for sovereignty, non-interference and good neighbourliness, and constitute a clear affront to the people and the government of Bangladesh, MoFA said.

“It sets a dangerous precedent vis-a-vis the future of Bangladesh-India relations and may seriously impair the ability of the future elected polity in Bangladesh to engage, shape, and nurture mutually beneficial bilateral relations,” it said.