Bangladesh Condemns India for Giving Hasina Media Platform

Bangladesh has expressed strong anger and deep disappointment over India’s decision to allow fugitive and convicted former autocratic ruler Sheikh Hasina to speak live on a New Delhi-based media platform. In a press statement issued on Wednesday (August 5), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Sheikh Hasina and her associates made hateful remarks against the Bangladeshi state and its people during the broadcast.

The ministry said Bangladesh had warned India in advance about the potential impact of the event. Despite concerns that it could undermine efforts to rebuild bilateral ties, the programme went ahead. Dhaka said it deeply regretted India’s decision to allow the event to proceed. According to the statement, Sheikh Hasina’s remarks from Indian soil on the second anniversary of the July Revolution constituted an affront to Bangladesh’s sovereignty and showed grave disrespect for the memory of those killed during the July Revolution.

The ministry also said attempts to deny United Nations-documented findings, including the killings of civilians and children in July and August 2024, were a failed effort to distort history. It added that the people of Bangladesh had pledged never to allow the return of fascism and remained committed to building a country free from dependence on any foreign state.

The statement further said that convicted Sheikh Hasina and her associates no longer had any place in Bangladesh’s political landscape. It reiterated that Bangladesh seeks constructive, mutually beneficial, and forward-looking relations with India based on sovereign equality, mutual respect, non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, and national dignity.

However, the ministry noted that the Indian government has not responded to Bangladesh’s repeated requests to extradite Sheikh Hasina under the extradition treaty signed between the two countries in 2013, despite her death sentence. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs added that providing Sheikh Hasina with a public media platform had hurt the sentiments of the people of Bangladesh and was detrimental to the development of good relations between the two countries.