Sheikh Hasina, the Prime Minister of the former autocratic government, was ousted through intense mass protests. Then he fled to India and took refuge. He took a position there on the strength of a diplomatic passport. However, his passport has already been canceled by the interim government of Bangladesh. Yet he is staying there with India’s consent. He can legally stay in India for a maximum of 45 days due to the remaining diplomatic passport. This term ended yesterday Thursday. Now the question is, what action will India take?
Bangladesh Foreign Secretary M Touhid Hossain said on Tuesday that Bangladesh does not know anything about Sheikh Hasina staying in India under any law. However, they did not want to know anything about Sheikh Hasina’s position. Of course, there is no end of questions in the Indian political circles about this.
Last Tuesday, a spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of India said that there is no possibility that Sheikh Hasina will be handed over to Bangladesh even though her stay in India has expired due to her diplomatic passport. So why will Sheikh Hasina stay in India? In this case, it is being said by some quarters that Hasina may be given ‘temporary’ political asylum like the Tibetan religious leader Dalai Lama.