Bangladesh’s interim government chief Muhammad Yunus has claimed that he had appealed to India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stop Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Hasina from making political rhetoric from India, but his demand was rejected. Speaking at the Chautham House in London, Younus said that he had discussed the issue with Modi during the BIMSTEC summit in April.
According to Younus, he told Modi, “You want to give shelter to Hasina, I cannot force you to give up that policy. But please make sure that he does not address Bangladeshi people like this.” In response, Modi allegedly said, “This is social media, it cannot be controlled.” Yunus termed it as a “explosive situation” and said that it cannot be avoided only by calling social media.
Sheikh Hasina has left Bangladesh and took refuge in India after student-disconnected protests in August 2024. Since then, she has been attacking the interim government of Bangladesh through social media from Delhi, which has increased tension between the two countries. Yunus said his government would continue efforts to extradite Hasina, as Bangladesh’s International Crime Tribunal has accused Hasina of ordering 2024 protesters to order police action.
Yunus also said that Dhaka has sent a written request to India for extradition of Hasina and has started legal proceedings. He talked about following all the legal routes including Interpol. However, there is no official response from India to this request yet.
Analysts believe that the matter may further complicate Indo-Bangladesh relations. Yunus desired strong relations with India, but described the “fake news in the Indian press”.
