Opinion Express view on Sheikh Hasina extradition demand: It’s time to politics-proof bilateral ties

On Tuesday, the Muhammad Yunus-led government made a formal request of extradition to India, which has hosted Sheikh Hasina, the former prime minister of Bangladesh, since she was ousted by a student-led uprising. Delhi has so far declined to comment on the matter and Dhaka has reportedly affirmed that it will follow up on its request. The two countries have an extradition treaty but its clauses do not oblige Delhi to hand over Hasina. The reasons for India to stand its ground while continuing to engage diplomatically with its eastern neighbour, though, go beyond the letter of the treaty. There is no doubt that Bangladesh’s standing as a democracy has suffered because of Hasina’s authoritarian ways and the country is in urgent need of political reform. However, that endeavour cannot be reduced to the persecution of one person. Meaningful changes require a representative government. Yunus leads an interim regime comprising student leaders, academics, NGO and civil society activists. It does not have the imprimatur of the country’s voters and does not represent Bangladesh’s entire political spectrum. The demand for Hasina’s extradition, in fact, seems of a piece with the recent demonising of her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the interim government’s moves to diminish the Awami League’s presence in Bangladesh’s politics.

It would be extremely unfortunate if India-Bangladesh ties are soured by Dhaka’s excessive focus on Hasina. The former prime minister had played an important role in taking the political and economic ties between the two countries to a new high. Her ouster seems to have been followed by a concerted pushback against several of Hasina’s initiatives, including jettisoning a project that would have made Bangladesh a transit point in providing internet services to India’s northeast. Narratives that undermine India’s role in Bangladesh’s liberation movement have reportedly gained currency in post-Hasina Bangladesh as has growing insecurity among minorities. The focus of Delhi’s diplomatic initiative should be to impress on Dhaka the arc of India-Bangladesh ties, pre and post-1971, the shared economic and cultural bonds between the people of the two countries, and their common concern in ensuring stability in the Subcontinent. The imperative should be to underline that the ties are meant to serve the people of the two countries who share a more than 4,000 km-long border — not ideologies or personalities.

Advertisement

That’s why Delhi should also impress upon Hasina that while it respects the historical connections with her party and family, and the former Bangladesh PM has a home in India, the ties between the two countries cannot be hostage to her personal grievances and aspirations. As it navigates the diplomatic complexities with a post-Hasina Bangladesh, Delhi’s message to her, and those who have succeeded her in Bangladesh, should be this: India’s stakes in its eastern neighbour go far beyond one person or one political party. Dhaka, too, must recognise the necessity of making bilateral ties politics-proof.