Bangladesh Protests India Over Sheikh Hasina’s New Delhi Media Appearance

Bangladesh has expressed anger and lodged a protest over India allowing convicted and absconding Sheikh Hasina to appear before the media in New Delhi, where Dhaka said she made provocative and abusive remarks against Bangladesh and its people. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the move had hurt Bangladesh’s sovereignty and insulted the martyrs of the July Revolution.

The ministry said the event took place on the historic day marking the second anniversary of the July Revolution, and described Hasina’s actions from Indian soil as a direct blow to Bangladesh’s sovereignty.

According to the statement, Bangladesh had earlier conveyed its concerns to the Indian government, saying such an arrangement could have a highly negative impact on efforts to rebuild bilateral relations. Despite that advance warning, Dhaka said, New Delhi allowed the public event to go ahead, prompting deep regret from Bangladesh.

The statement said the fugitive former leader and her “criminal circle” were making a failed attempt to deny what it described as the truth already established by the United Nations: that countless innocent citizens, including children, were brutally killed by Hasina’s “fascist” government in July-August 2024. The ministry said the people of Bangladesh had rejected such attempts in the past and continued to reject them.

The statement said the people of Bangladesh, inspired by the spirit of the July Revolution, were firmly determined never to return to what it called the dark days of fascism, and that Bangladesh would never become subservient to or a client state of any country. It added that “genocidal” Hasina and her “mafia circle” would have no place in Bangladesh’s politics in the future.

The ministry said Bangladesh remained committed to maintaining a constructive, mutually beneficial and forward-looking relationship with India, based on sovereign equality, mutual respect, non-interference in each other’s internal affairs and national dignity.

Expressing anger, the statement said Bangladesh had repeatedly asked India to return convicted offender Sheikh Hasina under the 2013 Bangladesh-India extradition treaty. It said the Indian government had so far not responded to those requests.

Instead, the ministry said, giving Hasina opportunities to speak openly before the media on one pretext or another had deeply hurt the emotions of the people of Bangladesh. It added that India’s role was proving highly damaging and obstructive to building friendly bilateral relations between the two countries.