Bangladesh’s deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina has not made any public appearance since fleeing to India on August 5 and oddly enough, Delhi too has been mum on her whereabouts.
Sources told the Financial Times that Hasina is in an Indian government safehouse and staying with her daughter Saima Wazed Putul, who took a Delhi-based regional job with the World Health Organisation in February. She’s reportedly been seen strolling with her entourage around one of the capital’s poshest parks, the Lodhi Garden.
The Modi government, Hasina’s closest ally, is maintaining strict silence on the topic. The interim government in Bangladesh headed by Dr Yunus has accused the deposed leader of killing hundreds of people during the uprising and expressed its intent to bring her back to stand trial.
Bangladesh signed an extradition agreement with India in 2013.
“We may demand her extradition under that agreement,” interim government’s law adviser Asif Nazrul told the Financial Times, “For now, we expect India not to allow her to instigate instability in Bangladesh, which she is trying to do by spreading lies and misinformation.”
Dr Yunus recently told an Indian media outlet that if India wants to keep her until Bangladesh wants her back, the condition would be that she has to keep quiet.
But even as the clamour for her extradition grows louder, India is unlikely to hand over its closest ally since that would undermine its position in the region.
Hasina and her sister Sheikh Rehana took refuge in India for several years after their father and most of the family members were killed in a coup in 1975. Hasina enjoys huge support across the Indian political spectrum for addressing the country’s concerns.
The theory that Hasina’s ousting and Yunus’ installation as the interim government's head was a “colour revolution” or a regime change backed by the US has broad currency in India, and not just in pro-Modi circles, the report says.
