Committed to best interests of people of Bangladesh, says India after Hasina ICT verdict

New Delhi, Nov 17 (IANS) India on Monday said that it has noted the verdict announced by the so-called ‘International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh’ concerning former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and remains committed to the best interests of the people of the neighbouring nation, including in peace, democracy, inclusion and stability in the country.

“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,” read a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) regarding the recent verdict in Bangladesh

The statement came hours after Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) pronounced a death sentence for former Prime Minister after founding her guilty on the charges of “crimes against humanity” related to the demonstrations in July of last year.

The ICT also convicted Hasina’s two top aides, former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and former Inspector General of Police, Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun. Mamun, however, has been granted a pardon but the court said that, given the intensity of the crimes, he will be given a “lenient sentence”.

Dhaka on Monday also urged New Delhi to “immediately” hand over Hasina and Kamal, stating that the move is India’s treaty-bound obligation.

“The existing bilateral extradition agreement between Bangladesh and India marks the transfer of the two convicts a compulsory responsibility for New Delhi. The foreign ministry also said that granting shelter to individuals convicted of crimes against humanity would be considered an unfriendly act and a disregard for justice,” Bangladesh’s leading Bengali daily ‘Prothom Alo’ quoted from a statement issued by the country’s Foreign Ministry.

Meanwhile, Hasina alleged that the verdict announced against her came from a “rigged tribunal” set up and presided over by the unelected interim government led by Muhammad Yunus which lacks a democratic mandate. She termed the ruling biased and politically motivated.

“In their distasteful call for the death penalty, they reveal the brazen and murderous intent of extremist figures within the interim government to remove Bangladesh’s last elected Prime Minister, and to nullify the Awami League as a political force. Millions of Bangladeshis toiling under the chaotic, violent and socially-regressive administration of Dr Mohammad Yunus will not be fooled by this attempt to short-change them of their democratic rights. They can see that the trials conducted by the so-called International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) were never intended to achieve justice or provide any genuine insight into the events of July and August 2025. Rather, their purpose was to scapegoat the Awami League and to distract the world’s attention from the failings of Dr Yunus and his ministers,” read a statement issued by former PM Hasina after the controversial ICT verdict.

Slamming the Yunus led interim government, she further said, “Under his aegis, public services have fallen apart. Police have retreated from the country’s crime-ridden streets and judicial fairness has been subverted, with attacks on Awami League adherents going unpunished. Hindus and other religious minorities are assaulted, and women’s rights suppressed. Islamic extremists inside the administration, including figures from Hizb-ut-Tahrir, seek to undermine Bangladesh’s long tradition of secular government. Journalists are locked up and menaced, economic growth has stalled, and Yunus has delayed elections and then banned the country’s most longstanding party (the Awami League) from participating in those elections.

The former PM denied the accusations that have been made against her in the ICT verdict. “I mourn all of the deaths that occurred in July and August of last year, on both sides of the political divide. But neither I nor other political leaders ordered the killing of protestors,” she stressed.

Hasina stated that she has no fear of facing her accusers before a proper tribunal where the evidence can be weighed and tested fairly, adding that this is why she has repeatedly challenged the interim government to bring these charges before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.

“The interim government will not accept this challenge, because it knows that the ICC would acquit me. The interim government also fears that the ICC would scrutinise its own record of human rights breaches in office,” she asserted.

–IANS

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