Dhaka would wait for a reasonable time for New Delhi鈥檚 response to its request for the return of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India for shelter on August 5 amid a student-led mass uprising.
鈥榃e shall be waiting for a reasonable time for the Indian external affairs ministry鈥檚 response to our request to return Sheikh Hasina under the extradition treaty we have with India,鈥� Bangladesh foreign ministry spokesperson Mohammad Rafiqul Alam said at the weekly media briefing at the聽 ministry on Tuesday.
Responding to a question, he said that they would send another letter if India did not reply to the request.
Rafiqul, also director general of the public diplomacy wing, said that the foreign ministry on Monday sent a note verbale to its Indian counterpart requesting the extradition of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who had been staying in India for over four months and a half.
He said that the diplomatic letter was part of the process under the extradition treaty that did not stipulate any timeframe for responding to the request.
Besides scores of murder cases, Hasina is now facing an International Crimes Tribunal warrant for her arrest on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity during the July-August mass uprising.
International Crimes Tribunal chief prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam on Tuesday said that diplomatic efforts were actively underway to repatriate Sheikh Hasina, who faces an arrest warrant for alleged crimes against humanity during the July-August massacre.
鈥楽tate-level actions are being taken in response to our requests. Diplomatic channels are being fully utilised to ensure her return. If the government succeeds, it will significantly enhance the prospects for a thorough and effective trial,鈥� Tajul told reporters on the tribunal compound in the capital Dhaka.
Foreign adviser Md Touhid Hossain on Monday told reporters that they had informed the Indian government through a note verbale that Sheikh Hasina was wanted here for a judicial process.
On that day, India also confirmed receiving an official request from the Bangladesh interim government, seeking extradition of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina to Dhaka, according to the Indian media reports.
Amid rising demands for extradition of the ousted prime minister for trial, the foreign ministry requested its Indian counterpart to send her back.
Hasina, also the Awami League president, has been staying in India as the mass uprising ousted her 15-year autocratic regime on August 5, leading to the formation of the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus on August 8.
The International Crimes Tribunal on October 21 asked the inspector general of police to execute warrants for the arrest of Hasina and 22 of her aides in two cases on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity during the student-people uprising.
The tribunal issued the arrest warrants on October 17 after the chief prosecutor filed two separate petitions 鈥� one against Hasina and the other against Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader and a number of former government officials.
Since her ouster as prime minister and fleeing to India in the face of the mass uprising on August 5, at least 50 cases have been filed with the tribunal against Hasina and her associates mainly on charges of murders, tortures and enforced disappearances.
Besides, more than 200 cases, mostly on murder charges, have been filed against Hasina after the fall of her authoritarian regime.
She has been accused of genocide and crimes against humanity in ICT cases for reported incidents of murders, attempted murders, abduction, torture and enforced disappearances.
On December 21, the Mass Uprising Special Cell, established under the Health Services Division in October, published its first draft report, saying that 858 were martyred and 11,551 injured in the student-people uprising.