Sheikh Hasina's statement in Delhi jeopardising progress of democracy and security in Bangladesh

The government and the people of Bangladesh are surprised and shocked that fugitive Sheikh Hasina, who has been convicted by the International Crimes Tribunal for committing crimes against humanity, was allowed to make a statement at a public event in New Delhi on 23 January.

The government also said Sheikh Hasina openly called for the removal of the government of Bangladesh and issued blatant incitements to her party loyalists and general public to carry out acts of terror in order to derail the upcoming general elections in Bangladesh.

The foreign ministry said this in a statement on Sunday.

Bangladesh is deeply aggrieved that while India is yet to act on her 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 inciteful pronouncements from its own soil.

This clearly endangers Bangladesh's democratic transition and peace and security.

The statement also said 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.

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.

The unabashed incitements by Awami League's leadership yet again demonstrated why the Interim government had to ban its activities.

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.