Dhaka: The gavel has fallen in Dhaka, but the echoes reverberate across the border: Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal has slammed a death sentence on ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for allegedly inciting murders and orchestrating a deadly crackdown that claimed countless lives during her iron-fisted 15-year reign.
Convicted in five high-stakes cases, her sprawling assets face seizure, yet Hasina, who has been exiled in India since fleeing student fury in December 2024, dismisses the verdict as a sham — politically engineered by an unelected regime that silenced her defence.
Muhammad Yunus’ interim government promptly initiated an extradition plea to New Delhi and prepared to issue an Interpol Red Corner Notice. Whispers suggest Bangladesh’s National Security Advisor will press the matter during a high-level Delhi huddle next week. But will India, Hasina’s staunch sanctuary, allow its former ally to face the consequences?
The answer lurks in the 2013 India-Bangladesh Extradition Treaty, a diplomatic tightrope inked to foster cross-border justice. It mandates refusal if offences smack of political vendetta — yet it carves out exceptions for grave crimes like murder, enforced disappearances, and torture, branding them non-political. Refusal is also kosher if charges reek of bad faith or veer into military turf not covered by ordinary criminal codes, according to Article 8’s safeguards.
India’s first brush with this demand came mere days after Hasina’s bolt from Dhaka, amid Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri’s visit that preached regional harmony. Yunus, sworn in on August 8, has since hammered home Hasina’s alleged atrocities against protesters and rivals. However, New Delhi has the power to either approve the handover through legal and diplomatic channels, or oppose it due to concerns about judicial impartiality, human rights risks, or the potential for unfair appeals against a fallen leader.
As bilateral ties teeter, the subcontinent watches: Is this extradition a bridge to reconciliation or a chasm of mistrust?