Bangladesh ex-PM Sheikh Hasina must stay silent till we seek her extradition: Muhammad Yunus

Muhammad Yunus, the head of Bangladesh’s interim government, has said former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina must not make political remarks from India to prevent discomfort to both countries until Dhaka requests her extradition.

“If India wants to keep her until the time Bangladesh (government) wants her back, the condition would be that she has to keep quiet,” he said.

Narrative must change

The way forward is for India to come out of the narrative that the Bangladesh Nationalist Party is Islamist, and will turn this country into Afghanistan. Muhammad Yunus, bangladesh’s interim government head

In an interview with PTI at his official residence in Dhaka, Yunus, who was appointed the country’s Chief Adviser after Hasina’s ouster, stressed that while Bangladesh valued strong ties with India, New Delhi must move “beyond the narrative that portrays every other political party except Awami League as Islamist and that the country will turn into Afghanistan without Sheikh Hasina.”

“No one is comfortable with her stance there in India because we want her back to try her. She is there in India and at times she is talking, which is problematic. Had she been quiet, we would have forgotten it; people would have also forgotten it as she would have been in her own world. But sitting in India, she is speaking and giving instructions. No one likes it,” he said.

“It is not good for us or for India. There is discomfort regarding it,” he said.

Yunus was apparently referring to Hasina’s statement on August 13 in which she demanded “justice”, saying those involved in recent “terror acts”, killings and vandalism must be investigated, identified and punished. This has been the only statement made by Hasina after she fled. It was posted on her US-based son Sajeeb Wazed Joy’s X handle.

When asked whether Bangladesh had communicated its stance to India, Yunus said it had been conveyed verbally. —PTI