Hasina should keep quiet: Yunus; hints at Dhaka seeking extradition

Dhaka: Muhammad Yunus, the head of Bangladesh’s interim government said in an interview on Thursday that Sheikh Hasina, currently in India, should “keep quiet”, suggesting that Dhaka could seek her extradition, and asked New Delhi to move beyond the “narrative” that every political party other than Hasina’s Awami League is “Islamist”.

There was no immediate response from India to his comments.

Separately, in an official statement in Bengali marking a month since the fall of Hasina’s government, Yunus said: “We want to extradite killers and bring back the money embezzled by corrupt individuals, politicians and bureaucrats during the autocratic regime.” Then premier Hasina stepped down on August 5 following weeks of student-led protests against her government, and fled to India.

In the interview, Yunus said Hasina should “keep quiet” while exiled in India. “If India wants to keep her until the time Bangladesh wants her back, the condition would be that she has to keep quiet,” he added. “Sitting in India, she is speaking and giving instructions. No one likes it. It’s not good for us or for India.”

Shortly after her arrival in India, Hasina issued a statement through her son that called on Bangladeshis to gather in Dhaka to mark the 1975 assassination of her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. She also sought an investigation into deaths during protests against her government.

Since then, Hasina, who is currently at an undisclosed safe location, has not issued any more statements. Yunus didn’t say whether a formal extradition request had been made to India although other leaders of the interim government have said arrangements will be made to bring back Hasina if there is a directive from the judiciary.

When asked whether Bangladesh has communicated its stance to India, Yunus said it has been conveyed verbally and quite firmly that she should keep quiet.

“Everyone understands it. We have said quite firmly that she should keep quiet. 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. She has fled following a people’s uprising and public anger,” he said.

He stressed that while Bangladesh values strong ties with India, New Delhi must move “beyond the narrative that portrays every other political party except Awami League as Islamist ”.

“The way forward is for India to come out of the narrative. The narrative is that everybody is Islamist, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) 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. India is captivated by this narrative. India has to come out of this narrative. Bangladesh, like any other nation, is another neighbour,” he said.

Hasina’s government was accused of human rights abuses, including mass detentions and enforced disappearances of political opponents. Since she fled to India, scores of criminal cases have been filed against Hasina and senior leaders of her Awami League party. Many of the cases related to the deaths of more than 600 people both during the protests and the violence that followed Hasina’s ouster. Several ministers, two senior police officials, Awami League leaders and supporters, journalists and senior military officials have also been sent to jail.

Yunus, the choice of student leaders who led the protests, assumed power as the head of the interim government on August 8. Many houses, businesses and temples of Hindus and other minorities were attacked after the fall of Hasina’s government. Referring to these attacks and India’s concern, Yunus said this is just an excuse. “The issue of trying to portray the conditions of minorities in such a big way is just an excuse,” he said. Yunus said the interim government is making progress but the foremost challenge is to heal wounds created by misrule and an “autocrat”. He added, “For this, we need unity and coordination.”

Speaking about the future of bilateral treaties with India, Yunus said there are demands for a relook at certain treaties such as transit and the Adani electricity deal.

“Everybody is saying that it is needed. 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,” he said.

The BNP has said that if voted to power, it will review and re-evaluate the “questionable” Adani electricity deal signed during the Awami League regime, as it is putting “tremendous pressure” on the people of Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, the platform that spearheaded the protests, commemorated the “martyrs” of the movement on Thursday. Tens of thousands of students and people from different walks of life joined a “Shaheed March” that began at the Raju Memorial Sculpture within the Dhaka University campus.

People marched through key areas of Dhaka, including Nilkhet, New Market, Kalabagan, Dhanmondi, Manik Miah Avenue, Farmgate, Kawran Bazar, Bangla Motor and Shahbagh before the rally culminated at the Central Shaheed Minar.

During the march, students were seen waving the national flag and shouting slogans against Hasina and her party. “We want the killer Hasina to be hanged,” the crowd chanted.

Students were also seen waving Palestine flags in solidarity with the people of Gaza.

(With PTI inputs)