‘Hasina can stay in India as long as she likes, govt in no hurry’

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 20

More than two weeks after former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled her country and arrived in India, New Delhi is giving her the time and space to decide her own future, despite the newly formed Interim Government in Dhaka objecting to her presence here.

On the condition of anonymity, government sources told The Tribune that India is not pressing Hasina to take a decision on her future. “We are in no hurry. It is entirely Sheikh Hasina’s call to decide her own future. She can stay here as long as she likes,” the official said.

New Delhi’s response on Hasina could define the “contours” of the relationship with Bangladesh where the new leadership has sought Hasina’s extradition, objected to her staying in India and questioned her statements made from Indian soil.

On August 16, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had said, “The situation is still evolving. At this stage, we have nothing new to share about her plans.” Smruti S Pattanaik, research fellow at the Manohar Parrikar Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses (MPIDSA), says, “Hasina will stay as long as she wants.” You don’t turn away a previous PM who has been a long-term partner, Pattanaik adds.

In Bangladesh, cases have been filed against Hasina. An international news agency quoted Mohd Touhid Hossain, Adviser for Foreign Affairs of the Interim Government of Bangladesh, saying “should the country’s home and law ministries decide, Bangladesh may need her (Hasina) to return”. From the Indian side, an extradition is almost ruled out. Jaiswal, answering questions of the media on possible extradition, said, “This is a hypothetical question.”