- The global community must be concerned with the way the political churnings are unfolding in our neighbourhood of Bangladesh in the last year or so. The direct implications of Bangladesh’s political conundrum will be felt by India as an unelected government in that country presides over a regime that severely lacks credibility. We are aware of how the Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government was ousted in an uprising leading to loss of innocent lives and destruction of property. The racial abuse unleashed on the minority community is still fresh in the minds of the people around the world. Despite the global leadership making earnest attempts at addressing the rising cases of sectarian violence, the situation in that country continues to remain volatile.
PC: Deccan Herald
- As we know, Sheikh Hasina fled Bangladesh and has been residing in India since the ouster. She has been tried in absentia by the Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT). The judgment has now been pronounced and is legally questionable. Sheikh Hasina may not appreciate the irony – the court she set up in 2010 sentenced her recently to death, judges falling in step with the current Dhaka regime. For the uninitiated, the ICT was instituted to try Pakistani war criminals and their Bengali collaborators for the genocide carried out during Bangladesh’s 1971 liberation struggle. Trying war criminals was a big demand of Bangladeshi civil society that sought justice for the 3 million killed and 250,000 women raped during 1971.
PC: Voice7 News
- The Hasina government had responded to this, set up the ICT, and sentenced several Jamaat war criminals to death. Therefore, to try Hasina for the loss of lives during the student-led protest in Bangladesh last year through ICT is legally questionable. The trial appears to be an exercise in revenge. Those who prosecuted Hasina clearly have an axe to grind. They are also going after secular intellectuals who remain incommunicado in detention. Also, Hasina and her then-home minister have been charged with superior command responsibility and the deaths of 12 student protesters. However, the main witness in the case is Bangladesh’s former Inspector General of Police, who is currently in custody and has become a state approver.
PC: The Quint
- He has been sentenced to five years in prison. Thus, the whole legal process carried out appears dodgy under the watch of anti-Hasina forces. Dhaka has said it will again seek Hasina’s extradition from New Delhi. But the possibility of that happening appears remote. Not only is Hasina not guaranteed a fair trial in Bangladesh, but forces are dangerously hostile to India, secular Bangladeshis, and Bangladeshi Hindus have gained ground in that country. Add to these threats issued by elements of the interim Bangladeshi regime against the security of India’s Northeast, and growing collaboration between Bangladeshi and Pakistani security agencies. ISI-backed anti-India groups reconstituting is a threat too. India’s security apparatus must be watchful.
