Hasina’s visa extension not taken positively by people: Rizvi

BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi today said the people of Bangladesh have not taken positively India's extension of a visa for a killer like Sheikh Hasina.

"Sheikh Hasina's visa extension is an internal matter of India, but we do not know if there are any ill intentions behind it," he said while speaking to reporters after meeting the family members of martyred Shahriar Khan Anas of the July-August mass uprising in the capital's Gendaria area.

Rizvi, along with the organisers of 'Amra BNP Poribar,' consoled the family members of Anas, a 10th-grade student of Gendaria Adarsh School who was killed during the student-led mass uprising.

Stating that India is a democratic country, he said the neighbouring country should understand that Sheikh Hasina is a killer of children, adolescents, youth, rickshaw pullers, and CNG-run auto-rickshaw drivers.

"How could a democratic country shelter that murderer and extend her visa? The people of Bangladesh have not taken this positively," the BNP leader said.

He alleged that India demonstrates its domineering and aggressive attitude as it fails to understand the patriotism, nationalism and achievements of Bangladeshis. 

"They do it as they undermine the sovereignty of Bangladeshis and our achievements of independence and democracy at the cost of blood."

According to Indian media reports, India has extended the visa of Sheikh Hasina, the deposed Prime Minister of Bangladesh, amid mounting calls from Dhaka for her extradition.

The move was taken after the Dr Muhammad Yunus-led interim government formally requested Hasina's extradition through a note verbale sent to India's Ministry of External Affairs on 23 December.

Hasina, 77, has been residing in India since fleeing her country in August last year, following widespread protests that culminated in her resignation.