Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS) President Maj. Gen. (retd) ANM Muniruzzaman has said India is “almost legally bound” to return ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to Bangladesh under the existing bilateral extradition treaty.

Speaking during a session at the Bay of Bengal Conversation in Dhaka, he said the treaty obligates India to send back any individual convicted under Bangladeshi law.

“We have an extradition treaty… under that treaty India is almost legally bound to send her back,” he said. Muniruzzaman added that as a friendly neighbour, India should respect Bangladesh’s legal processes and international norms.

“If India respects international order, then it should respect Bangladesh’s legal systems,” he said, noting that Hasina’s trial had met international legal standards.

He questioned how India would react if Bangladesh refused to return convicted Indian nationals despite formal requests.
“By all accounts, Sheikh Hasina should be returned to Bangladesh,” he said.

The plenary session, titled ‘Fractured Orders, Fluid Loyalties: Power Politics in the Post-Alignment Age’, also featured speakers from Malaysia, Germany, Brazil, Serbia and the United States, and was moderated by David Patrician of RTL Nord, Germany.

Bangladesh’s first extradition request for Hasina remains pending, though New Delhi has acknowledged receiving it.

After the recent verdict, Dhaka urged India to “immediately hand over” Sheikh Hasina and former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, both convicted of crimes against humanity for atrocities committed during the July–August mass uprising last year.

The International Crimes Tribunal-1 sentenced both to death on November 17.
Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said granting them shelter would be “a grave act of unfriendly conduct and a travesty of justice.”