Bangladesh Condemns India After Sheikh Hasina Speaks Publicly From Delhi and Vows to Return

Sheikh Hasina, removed as prime minister of Bangladesh in 2024 and living in India since, held her first public media event on Wednesday, a virtual appearance hosted by the Foreign Correspondents' Club of South Asia in New Delhi. She said she intends to return to Bangladesh in December. Bangladesh's interim government responded with a formal protest. Its foreign ministry said it was surprised and shocked, and The Hindu reported Dhaka's statement that its repeated requests for her extradition have not been answered.

India's Ministry of External Affairs said before the event that the government had no involvement in organising it and does not endorse views expressed there, describing the host as a private media organisation, according to Al Jazeera. Dhaka rejects that separation and characterises permitting the event in the Indian capital as an affront to Bangladesh.

The domestic consequences were immediate. Dawn reported that attackers smashed windows and threw petrol bombs at the Dhaka residence of Shakib Al Hasan, the former Bangladesh cricket captain, after he took part in the event. Police were reported at the scene. Shakib was elected to parliament for Hasina's Awami League in 2024 and has been a target of political anger since her removal.

Bangladesh is scheduled to hold elections, and Hasina's stated intention to return in December places her at the centre of that contest from outside the country. India hosts her without granting the extradition Dhaka demands, which keeps the dispute between the two governments unresolved and personal.