BNP Secretary-General asks India to extradite Sheikh Hasina to face trial

Dhaka: Bangladesh Nationalist Party's Secretary-General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Tuesday asked India to extradite deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina to face trial as he accused her of plotting to thwart the country's revolution.

Hasina, 76, resigned and fled to India on August 5 following massive protests by students and others against her government over a controversial quota system in government jobs.

"It is our call to you that you should hand her over to the government of Bangladesh in a legal way. The people of this country have given the decision for her trial. Let her face that trial," Fakhrul was quoted as saying by the Daily Star newspaper.

Talking to reporters after placing a wreath at the grave of former president and BNP founder Zia-ur Rahman in the city, Fakhrul said India is seemingly not keeping its commitment towards democracy by providing shelter to her.

"Staying there, she has started various plots to thwart the revolution that happened in Bangladesh," he alleged.

Over 230 people were killed in the incidents of violence that erupted across the country following the fall of the Hasina-led Awami League government, taking the death toll to more than 600 since the massive protest by students first started in mid-July.

An interim government was formed after the fall of the Hasina-led government, and 84-year-old Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus was named its Chief Adviser.

The BNP secretary general said the people of this country do not consider her offences as minor.

He said they think her "fascist rule has weakened Bangladesh's independence and hindered the country's progress for the last 15 years".

During her regime, she made a debt burden of Tk 18 lakh crores for the nation and nearly USD 100 billion were siphoned off from the country, Fakhrul said, adding that all institutions of the country were destroyed during her misrule.

The interim government has been doing a commendable job, he said.

The main task of this interim government, which was formed through a revolution and mass upsurge, is to hand over the power to the public representatives by holding an election, Fakhrul added.

"It will definitely take some time to clear the garbage the Awami League government created. It will take time to hold a proper and fair election," he said.

BNP chairperson and former prime minister Khaleda Zia, 79, was sentenced to 17 years in prison for graft in 2018 under the rule of Hasina.

Zia, currently undergoing treatment for various ailments, was released on an executive order from President Mohammed Shahabuddin after the collapse of the Hasina-led Awami League government.