Sheikh Hasina must ‘keep quiet’ in India till Bangladesh seeks her extradition, says Muhammad Yunus

Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina must not comment about the situation in Bangladesh until Dhaka requests her extradition from India, Muhammad Yunus, the head of the country’s interim government, told PTI on Sunday.

“If India wants to keep her [Hasina] until the time Bangladesh [government] wants her back, the condition would be that she has to keep quiet,” Yunus said in the interview that was published on Thursday.

Yunus also said that bilateral ties between India and Bangladesh were “at a low”, emphasising the need for Dhaka and Delhi to cooperate and improve their relations.

Yunus took charge as head of the interim government in Bangladesh on August 8, three days after Hasina resigned as the prime minister and fled to India.

The Awami League leader fled the country after massive student-led protests against a controversial quota scheme for government jobs – which began in July – snowballed into a broader agitation against her government.

“No one is comfortable with her stance there in India because we want her back to try her,” Yunus told PTI. “She is there in India and at times she is talking, which is problematic. Had she been quiet, we would have forgotten it; people would have also forgotten it as she would have been in her own world.”

He added: “But sitting in India, she is speaking and giving instructions. No one likes it.”

The comments were an apparent reference to Hasina’s statement on August 13 demanding justice, saying that those involved in the recent “terror acts”, vandalism and killings in Bangladesh need to be punished, according to PTI.

“It [Hasina’s statement] is not good for us or for India,” Yunus said. “There is discomfort regarding it.”

These concerns have been verbally conveyed to the Indian government by his administration, Yunus was quoted as saying.

“We have said quite firmly that she should keep quiet,” the 84-year-old Nobel laureate said. “This is an unfriendly gesture towards us; she has been given shelter there and she is campaigning from there. It is not that she has gone there on a normal course.”

The people of Bangladesh “won’t be at peace” if Hasina is not brought back to the country to face justice in cases pertaining to the alleged atrocities committed by her regime, Yunus said. “The kind of atrocities she has committed, she has to be tried in front of everyone here,” he added.

Yunus on India-Bangladesh ties

Yunus also reiterated that Bangladesh wants strong bilateral ties with India. “[Dhaka and Delhi] need to work together to improve this relationship, which is now at a low,” he said.

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However, Yunus added that Delhi must stop pushing the narrative that only Hasina’s leadership ensures stability in Bangladesh.

“The way forward is for India to come out of the narrative,” Yunus said. “The narrative is that everybody is Islamist, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party is Islamist, and everyone else is Islamist and will make this country into Afghanistan. And Bangladesh is in safe hands with Sheikh Hasina at the helm only.”

“Bangladesh, like any other nation, is another neighbour,” Yunus added.

Yunus also said there were demands in Bangladesh to revisit specific treaties with India, such as the one on transit and the electricity deal with India’s Adani Group, PTI quoted him as saying.

He added: “We will see what is on paper and, second, what is actually happening on the ground. I can’t answer it specifically. If there is any need to review, we will then raise questions about it.”

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