India should respect Bangladesh’s legal systems, return Hasina: BIPSS president

President of the Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS) Maj Gen (retd) ANM Muniruzzaman today (22 November) said India, as a friendly neighbour, should respect Bangladesh's legal systems and return former prime minister Sheikh Hasina to Bangladesh.

"If India respects international norms and rules, and international order, then India as a friendly neighbour, should respect Bangladesh's legal systems," he said while responding to a question during a session at the Bay of Bengal Conversation in Dhaka.

Muniruzzaman said Hasina's trial has gone through all international standards legal systems under which she was convicted.  "And that's a legal system that should be respected by all our neighbours," he added.

If that respect is there, Muniruzzaman said, by all accounts she should be returned to Bangladesh.

The security analyst said Bangladesh and India have an extradition treaty and India is almost legally bound to send Hasina back to Bangladesh under the treaty.

He wanted to know what would be India's reaction if Bangladesh was housing a number of Indians and did not return them after a request made by New Delhi to Dhaka.

If that is the case, Muniruzzaman said, anybody convinced under Bangladesh's law by international standards, India is legally bound to send him or her bank to Bangladesh.  "And by all those accounts, we demand that New Delhi sends her (Hasina) back to Bangladesh," he said.

Plenary session titled "Fractured Orders, Fluid Loyalties Power Politics in the Post-Alignment Age", also attended by Julia Roknifard, senior lecturer of Taylor's University, Malaysia; Jovan Ratkovic, senior fellow, Agora Strategy Institute; Leonardo Paz Neves, senior researcher of Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV), Brazil; Marian Vidaurri, research associate, Cornell University, USA and David Patrician, RTL Nord, Germany (moderator).

Hasina's first extradition request remains unanswered, though New Delhi acknowledged Dhaka's request for her extradition.

After the verdict recently, Bangladesh urged the government of India to immediately hand over former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, both convicted already, to its authorities.

"I understand they need to be brought back. We will let India know our position officially. Certainly, an official letter will be sent," Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain told reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, noting that Dhaka will write to New Delhi officially. It could not be known whether the second request for extradition is sent or not.

Acknowledging that India did not reply to Bangladesh's extradition request for Hasina, Touhid Hossain said the situation is different now as the trial is completed and they are punished.

"This is also an obligation for India under the existing extradition treaty between the two countries," said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement.

On November 17, the International Crimes Tribunal-1 sentenced former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal to death in a case filed over crimes against humanity committed during last year's July Uprising.

"It would be a grave act of unfriendly conduct and a travesty of justice for any other country to grant shelter to these individuals convicted of crimes against humanity," said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in its statement.

Meanwhile, India said it noted the verdict announced by the International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh concerning Hasina and said they will always engage constructively with all stakeholders.

"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," said India's Ministry of External Affairs in a statement.

The Indian ministry said they will always engage constructively with all stakeholders to that end.