Tomorrow marks exactly one month since former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned amid student-led mass uprising and fled to India leaving the country in a leadership vacuum for a couple of days.
The country was in a state of lawlessness until Nobel laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus returned home from Paris and took oath as Chief Adviser of the interim government on August 8, chosen by the student leaders and backed by the army.
Hasina’s fall was so dramatic that she had only 45 minutes to leave her official residence Ganobhaban, which was stormed by jubilant protesters shortly after her exit.
The student protests began in July against a quota system in government jobs that critics said favoured people with connections to Hasina’s party.
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Since her exit, Hasina is facing more than 100 cases, nearly all of them filed by aggrieved members of those killed by law enforcement agencies during the massive protests. The unprecedented violence left over 1000 people – many of them children and youth – killed and thousands injured. She is also facing complaints filed before the International Crimes Tribunal accusing her of mass killings.
While 76-year-old Hasina is reportedly lodged in a safe house in an Indian air base in Gaziabad on the outskirts of New Delhi, calls for her extradition to Bangladesh to face justice are growing.
The Yunus-led interim government is yet to make any decision on whether it will request for extradition of Hasina, New Delhi’s closest ally during her 15-year rule.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the first among the foreign leaders to congratulate Prof Yunus on social media platform X. Modi expressed the hope that the two countries will continue to work with their shared vision for boosting the bilateral relations.
Separately, Indian External Affairs Minister S Jayshankar recently commented, “We will deal with the government of the day…need to look for mutuality of interest.”
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Diplomatic sources in both the capitals believe Hasina’s continued presence in India may become a headache for New Delhi in its bid to build a rapport with Yunus-led administration. They also warn of public sentiments against India following the recent massive floodings in eastern Bangladesh with many blaming it on the neighbouring country. New Delhi had to clarify it was not responsible for the floods in Feni and other nearby districts.
In reply to a question, Foreign Adviser Touhid Hossain recently reiterated that the government will definitely try to bring back Hasina from India if the legal system wants.
“There are legal processes. If our legal system wants, we will definitely try (to bring her back),” he said.
After the interim government revoked her diplomatic passport, questions have now arisen as to how long Sheikh Hasina can stay in India and whether she will face a possible extradition. The approval for Hasina to go to India was granted at a short notice, according to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.
As Hasina faces a number of murder cases, it is now uncertain what future holds for her if she needs to return to Bangladesh. But it depends on India whether they will hand her over under the extradition agreement between the two countries if Bangladesh wants her back.
On the other hand, the leaders of the Anti-Discrimination Students' Movement on Wednesday announced that they will hold a "Shaheedi March" on September 5 across the country, to commemorate the martyrs one month after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina regime.
Sarjis Alam, one of the movement's coordinators, made the announcement at the TSC auditorium.
"We think it is time to remember those who lost their lives for the cause,” he said, inviting the families of every martyr to take part in it.
“We want tomorrow to be a nationwide tidal wave. Shaheedi March will begin centrally from Raju Memorial Sculpture at 3:00pm," he added.