Bangladesh Nationalist Party has asked India to extradite ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to Bangladesh and let her face trial in the country. BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir alleged that during her stay in India, Hasina has started various plots to thwart the revolution that happened in Bangladesh.
“It is our call to you that you should hand her over to the government of Bangladesh in a legal way. The people of this country have given the decision for her trial. Let her face that trial,” he said, reported Dhaka Tribune.
The BNP leader also alleged that India does not seem to keep its commitment towards democracy by providing shelter to her. “Staying there, she has started various plots to thwart the revolution that happened in Bangladesh,” he alleged.
Mirza Fakhrul said that the people of Bangladesh do not consider her offences as minor and charged that her "fascist" rule has weakened the country's independence and hindered the country's progress for the last 15 years.
During Sheikh Hasina's regime, she made a debt burden of Tk 18 lakh crores and siphoned off nearly US 100 billion dollars from the country, said the BNP Secretary General adding that all the institutions were destroyed in the country during her rule.
Hasina fled Bangladesh on August 5 and took refuge in India following weeks of violent protests in the country. The agitation led by students, initially over quota in government jobs for freedom fighters' kin soon turned into a larger protest against what was described as Hasina's increasingly authoritarian turn.
Mirza Fakhrul's comes two days after he told ABP LIVE that he is "concerned" that India is refusing to see the political will of the country that led to the mass uprising and overthrew former PM Hasina.
BJP always “shared a warm relationship” with India when it was in power, but now there is “distance”, he said.
He also said that if Hasina wanted to come to Bangladesh with democratic motives, she could come but would face trial for her actions.
"She has destroyed the nation, destroyed the economy and plundered it, and conducted ruthless killings. So accountability must be ensured. She is accountable to the people and that will happen,” said the senior BNP leader.
Hasina is facing 31 cases against her in Bangladesh including 26 on charges of murder, four on charges of crimes against humanity and genocide and one for abduction, reported the Daily Star.
Her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy, daughter Saima Wazed Putul and sister Sheikh Rehana have also been named in one of the killing cases.