Sheikh Hasina did not come to India at New Delhi’s invitation. She was effectively packed off to India by Bangladesh’s powerful military — and without even tendering her formal resignation. After putting her on a military aircraft bound for India, the army chief went on national television to announce that he had taken charge until an interim regime was installed.
It is doubly ironic, then, that an unelected, military-backed regime presiding over rampant rights abuses is now demanding that India extradite the 78-year-old Hasina, rather than explaining why the army itself forced her departure and left New Delhi with little choice.
In any case, international law does not empower an unconstitutionally installed regime to seek the extradition of an elected head of government who was driven into exile by the military.
The regime-appointed tribunal’s death sentence against Hasina yesterday was a verdict written in advance, in the best tradition of political show trials. Indeed, the proceedings were so farcical that calling the tribunal a kangaroo court would be an insult to kangaroos.