Hasina, who has been living in exile in New Delhi, was sentenced to death by a special tribunal in November 2025 in her absence. (Source: File) After securing a landslide victory in the 13th parliamentary elections, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) on Friday renewed its demand seeking the extradition of the ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina from India to face trial in Dhaka.
Voting in Bangladesh took place on Thursday amid tight security as it was the first since the violent student-led uprising in July 2024, which led to the ouster of Hasina’s Awami League government and forced her to flee to India.
Renewing the demand to extradite Hasina, senior BNP leader Salahuddin Ahmed said, “The foreign minister has already persuaded the case for her extradition, and we also support it,” PTI reported.
“We always press for her extradition according to the law. This is between the foreign ministries of the two countries. We also asked the government of India to please send her back to face trial in Bangladesh,” Ahmed added.
Ahmed emphasised that Dhaka seeks to have normal relations with all its neighbours, including New Delhi. The BNP leader added that Bangladesh needs to have friendly relations with all countries, including India, based on “mutual respect and equality.”
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Ahmed’s comments came soon after BNP secured a landslide majority in the national elections and won 212 seats in the 299 constituencies where the elections were held.
Its rival in this election, the Jamaat-e-Islami which contested with 11 parties in coalition, including student-led National Citizens’ Party (NCP), has won 77 seats, Daily Star reported.
Hasina’s Awami League had been banned by the interim government’s Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus from contesting elections. All activities of the Awami League had been banned by the interim government under the Anti-Terrorism Act until the trial of the party and its leaders was completed.
Hasina, who has been living in exile in New Delhi, was sentenced to death by a special tribunal in November 2025 in her absence, for crimes against humanity linked to the violent suppression of the 2024 uprising.
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“People of the country know that this is a very inclusive election. If you like to mention the exclusion of Awami League, etc., people have rejected the mass uprising in Aug 2024,” Ahmed said.
(with inputs from PTI)
