MoFA tight-lipped on letter to Delhi over Hasina’s extradition

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs remains conspicuously silent on whether the government has formally sent a letter to New Delhi seeking the extradition of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, despite earlier indications that such a step was imminent.

Sheikh Hasina and former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal were recently sentenced to death by the International Crimes Tribunal in a case linked to crimes against humanity committed during the July Movement.

Following the verdict, the interim government announced that a letter requesting Hasina’s return from India would be dispatched “that night or the following morning.” Days later, officials said the communication was being drafted and would be sent as a note verbale referencing the verdict – without enclosing the judgment itself.

But since then, nothing.

At a press conference on Thursday – his first official briefing in five months – Foreign Secretary Asad Alam Siam avoided confirming whether the letter had been sent. The event was arranged to discuss the Bhutanese Prime Minister’s visit to Dhaka, yet journalists pressed him on the extradition request.

“This press conference is entirely related to the Bhutan visit,” Siam said. “It would be disrespectful to discuss anything else. I hope you will understand and keep questions limited to the bilateral visit.”

Reporters pointed out that since he had spoken about regional matters, India-related issues could naturally fall within that scope. The Secretary pushed back: “By regional, we mean SAARC and BIMSTEC issues. We want to limit the discussion to that.”

Officials in the South Asia Wing were similarly unwilling to comment, avoiding questions on either India or Sheikh Hasina.

Later in the evening, when journalists approached the Foreign Affairs Advisor as he was leaving the ministry, he too declined to say whether the letter had been sent, or why the matter was being kept under wraps.

Sheikh Hasina has been in India since the collapse of her government on August 5 last year. An earlier request for her return – sent under the existing extradition treaty – went unanswered by New Delhi. Whether the latest communication has even been dispatched remains a question the Ministry of Foreign Affairs appears determined not to answer.