Bangladesh outraged as India allows Sheikh Hasina to address press in Delhi: Foreign Ministry

The Bangladesh government has expressed its outrages as India allowed deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who has been sentenced to death for crimes against humanity, to address a press conference in New Delhi on the anniversary of the July Mass Uprising.

In a statement issued on Wednesday night, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, “Bangladesh is outraged that the absconding convicted genocider Sheikh Hasina was allowed this evening to engage in live interaction with the media in New Delhi where she and her henchmen launched venomous vitriol against the State of Bangladesh and her people.”

The government said it had conveyed its concerns apriori to the Indian government about the likely ramifications of the event on the reset of Dhaka-Delhi bilateral relations. Bangladesh deeply regrets that in spite of that the public event was permitted to be held on Indian soil.

The ministry statement said, “On a day when the people of Bangladesh are observing the second anniversary of the July Revolution, this interaction by Sheikh Hasina on the Indian soil stands as an affront to the sovereignty of Bangladesh and a grievous insult to the martyrs of the July Revolution.”

“The denial of facts established by the United Nations, including gruesome killing of the innocent civilians including minor children during July-August 2024 by the fascist regime, stands as a futile attempt by the absconding convicted mass murderer Hasina and her criminal cohort to reverse the tide of history. The people of Bangladesh had already rejected such heinous attempts in the past and continue to do so now,” the statement further said.

According to the ministry, “Upholding the spirit of the July Revolution, our people have firmly resolved that our nation will never again go back to the dark days of fascism and that Bangladesh will never be a client State. Convicted mass murderer Hasina and her mafia enterprise will never have a place in the polity of Bangladesh.”

The statement reaffirmed, “Bangladesh desires to maintain a constructive, mutually beneficial, and forward-looking relationship with India based on sovereign equality, mutual respect, non-interference in each other's internal affairs, and national dignity. Regrettably, Bangladesh’s repeated requests to the Government of India for returning convicted criminal Hasina to Bangladesh under the Extradition Treaty signed between Bangladesh and India in 2013, has not yet elicited a response. On the contrary, allowing her the opportunity to openly interact with the media under any pretext is deeply hurtful to our people’s sentiment and detrimental to the development of harmonious bilateral relations between Bangladesh and India.”

On Wednesday evening, the second anniversary of the fall of the Awami League government during the July Mass Uprising, Sheikh Hasina addressed a press conference organised by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of South Asia (FCC South Asia) in New Delhi online before answering questions from journalists.

Since taking refuge in New Delhi two years ago, she has periodically issued audio messages on social media and given interviews to various media outlets. This was the first time she had addressed a live event in New Delhi online.

Earlier, on 3 August, Bangladesh prime minister’s Foreign Affairs Adviser Humayun Kabir requested India’s cooperation to ensure that Sheikh Hasina, as well as any member of the Awami League (whose activities are banned in Bangladesh), would not be permitted to use Indian territory to make political statements.

He warned that such activities could undermine the positive momentum in bilateral relations.

Humayun Kabir made the request during a courtesy meeting with Indian High Commissioner Dinesh Trivedi in Dhaka.

Diplomatic sources said Bangladesh had also raised the issue during a courtesy meeting on 29 July between Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman and High Commissioner Dinesh Trivedi.

At that meeting, Dhaka stressed that Sheikh Hasina’s activities from Indian territory remained a significant obstacle to achieving a “new beginning” in relations between the two neighbouring countries.