Diplomatic Correspondent :
Bangladesh has formally asked India once again to return convicted Sheikh Hasina and former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, this time under a changed political and legal landscape following the completion of their trials and convictions.
The confirmation came from Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain on Sunday, when he spoke briefly with reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He said the latest letter was sent “the day before yesterday” through
the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi and has already reached India’s Ministry of External Affairs.
According to him, the request is unambiguous: Bangladesh wants both individuals returned to face the sentences handed down by local courts.
“A letter has gone to India asking for the return of Sheikh Hasina and Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal. The previous request received no response, but the situation is different now.
The trial is over. The punishments have been delivered. We also have bilateral agreements with India,” he said.
Sheikh Hasina, the former prime minister, was tried and sentenced to death in absentia after being charged in multiple cases including crime against humanity unleashed against students and ordinary people in July uprising last year.
The charges ranged from crimes against humanity and abuse of power to allegations related to state violence.
After a months-long legal process at the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), a special tribunal delivered the capital punishment.
The verdict placed her among the highest-profile political figures in Bangladesh to ever be convicted under such circumstances.
Former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal faced a parallel set of cases linked to alleged misuse of authority, obstruction of justice, and responsibility for state actions during the same period.
He too was tried in absentia and handed a capital punishment following evidentiary hearings, witness accounts, and submissions from prosecutors.
Both of them are now living in India and the Foreign Ministry now sought India’s cooperation to extradite them to face the execution as both countries have extradition treaty which can facilitate the process.
When the trial was continuing at the ICT, Bangladesh send note verbale to Delhi in December last year to extradite Sheikh Hasina but India did not reply the letter yet.
By sending the fresh formal note to New Delhi, Dhaka is signalling that it expects India to engage on the matter through established legal cooperation mechanisms.
The next move now depends on how India chooses to treat the request, which involves questions of extradition, political sensitivity, and regional diplomacy.
However, soon after the trial of handed down, Ministry of External Affairs, India in a statement on Nov 17 said, “As a close neighbour, India remains committed to the best interests of the people of Bangladesh, including in peace, democracy, inclusion and stability in that country.
We will always engage constructively with all stakeholders to that end.”
Bangladesh expects that India would respond the letter as the victims wants justice which is the best interests of the people of Bangladesh.
