Dhaka Links Hasina, Hadi Killers Before Its PM Visit To India
“Propitious environment needs to be created for the visit. To this end, we have requested the Indian authorities to expeditiously act on our request to extradite Sheikh Hasina and other fugitive criminals, and to hand over to Bangladesh the accused killers of Shaheed Sharif Osman Hadi in compliance with our bilateral extradition treaty. We are awaiting their response,” Bangladesh Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mr Shahidul Karim said in a statement
New Delhi: Maintaining suspense over the visit of Bangladesh Prime Minister Mr Tarique Rahman to India, Dhaka on Sunday linked the visit to former PM Ms Sheikh Hasina’s extradition and handing over killers of student leader Sharif Osman Hadi.
India has maintained that extradition of Ms Hasina involves a legal process. However, handing over the alleged killers of Hadi ahead of Mr Rahman’s may not be much of a problem for India. Bangladeshi nationals Faisal Karim Masud and Alamgir Hossain, believed to be the main accused in the murder of Hadi, arrested by West Bengal Special Task Force (STF) in March are at present in NIA custody.
“Propitious environment needs to be created for the visit. To this end, we have requested the Indian authorities to expeditiously act on our request to extradite Sheikh Hasina and other fugitive criminals, and to hand over to Bangladesh the accused killers of Shaheed Sharif Osman Hadi in compliance with our bilateral extradition treaty. We are awaiting their response,” Bangladesh Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mr Shahidul Karim said in a statement.
The statement comes hours after a section of media in Bangladesh, quoting diplomatic sources, said that the first bilateral visit of Mr Rahman to New Delhi may take place between August 22 to 25. Dhaka’s Daily Star reported that Mr Tarique is likely to visit India between August 20 and 25, with both sides expected to finalise the schedule in the next day or two. Prothom Alo claimed preparations are under way for Mr Rahman’s visit to New Delhi but dates are yet to be finalised. It added that India has already proposed possible dates for a two-day visit in the third week of August and Bangladesh is now considering a date around that period instead.
Sources in the Bangladesh High Commission (BHC) said that though no exact dates have been confirmed by the Bangladesh Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), they have started working on the visit assuming the dates will be August 22 to 25.
India had earlier proposed dates between August 20-21 for the bilateral visit of Mr Rahman. Besides, India has also extended an invitation to Mr Rahman to attend the outreach session of the upcoming BRICS summit on September 12-13 in his capacity as the current chair of the BIMSTEC grouping. Bangladesh government sources, reportedly, told media in Dhaka that since the presidential election in the country is on August 20 followed by swearing in on either August 22 or 23, therefore, the previously proposed date by India of August 20-21 was not feasible at this moment.
Mr Karim said that officials of Bangladesh and India have been in touch with each other for several weeks on the possibility of a bilateral visit by Mr Rahman to India. “However, this process was vitiated by the open press interaction in New Delhi on 5th August by Sheikh Hasina who has been convicted by the International Crimes Tribunal for committing crimes against humanity. We have made our position clear on this matter,” the spokesperson added.
“We reiterate that we will continue to pursue our `Bangladesh First’ policy to promote friendly bilateral relations with other countries, including our neighbours, on the basis of sovereign equality, national dignity, non-interference in each other's internal affairs and mutual benefit,” Mr Karim further said.
