India’s first reaction to Sheikh Hasina death sentence: ‘We will engage constructively with all stakeholders’

INDIA on Monday noted the verdict announced by the “International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh” in which the former Bangladesh Prime Minister was sentenced to death over the brutal crackdown on the protests.

India's first reaction through the Ministry of External Affairs came after Bangladesh urged India to extradite former Prime Minister Hasina and former interior minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, hours after both were sentenced to death for their role in the crackdown against a student uprising last year.

“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,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a response.

India's first reaction through the Ministry of External Affairs came after Bangladesh urged India to extradite former Prime Minister Hasina and former interior minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, hours after both were sentenced to death for their role in the crackdown against a student uprising last year.

India's first reaction through the Ministry of External Affairs came after Bangladesh urged India to extradite former Prime Minister Hasina and former interior minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, hours after both were sentenced to death for their role in the crackdown against a student uprising last year.

Earlier in the day, a special tribunal in Bangladesh sentenced ousted Hasina to death on charges of crimes against humanity for her crackdown on a student uprising last year that killed hundreds of people and led to the toppling of her 15-year rule.

Bangladesh’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the “International Crimes Tribunal has convicted and sentenced fugitives Sheikh Hasina and Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal for the July massacre.”

“It would be a grave act of unfriendly behaviour and a travesty of justice for any other country to grant asylum to these individuals convicted of crimes against humanity. We call on the Indian government to immediately hand over these two convicted individuals to the Bangladeshi authorities. This is also an obligation for India under the existing extradition treaty between the two countries,” the statement said.

The Dhaka-based International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) also sentenced former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan to death for his involvement in the use of deadly force against protesters.

Hasina, who fled after violent student protests last year, has been in India since.

The verdict comes months before parliamentary elections in Bangladesh. Hasina's Awami League party has been barred from contesting the elections scheduled for February.

The ICT, originally set up to try hardened collaborators of Pakistani forces during the 1971 Liberation War, was amended by the current administration to bring leaders of the past regime, including Hasina, under its jurisdiction.