Bangladesh has renewed its demand for India to hand over ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, with the country's law minister describing her as a “convicted criminal” and saying Dhaka is pursuing her return through the extradition treaty between the two countries.
Law Minister Md Asaduzzaman spoke to journalists in Dhaka on Sunday after opening a training workshop, in his first detailed public remarks on the case since the new government took office following February's parliamentary elections. He said the government was taking every legal step available to bring Ms Hasina back and would follow due process at each stage.
“To me, she is a criminal. A criminal convicted by our tribunal. To us, this is her identity,” Mr Asaduzzaman said, according to the Bangladeshi news website bdnews24. He added that the government would act in accordance with the law and would not be guided by emotion.
The minister made clear that his own ministry is not the one handling the request. “Although the Law Ministry is not directly involved in this matter, the Ministry of Home Affairs is concerned, as it relates to the extradition treaty with India,” he was quoted as saying by the state-run BSS news agency. “The matter will be dealt with in accordance with the law, leaving no room for emotions. We have requested her repatriation under the treaty and through due process.”
Ms Hasina fled to India on 5 August 2024, after weeks of mass protests brought her 15-year rule to an end. An interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus subsequently took charge. In November 2025, Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal convicted her of crimes against humanity committed during the July–August 2024 uprising, trying her in her absence and sentencing her to death on one charge and life imprisonment on another.
The first formal extradition request followed soon after the verdict, sent as a diplomatic note through Bangladesh's High Commission in New Delhi under the 2013 extradition treaty. India's foreign ministry confirmed it had received the request and said it was being examined, but by August 2026 Dhaka said it had still received no response.
The pressure has built again in recent days. On 5 November, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir said Bangladesh would seek her return exclusively through the treaty, adding that no passport or travel document was needed to bring back a person covered by it. Three days later, the law minister's remarks carried the same message in sharper language.
The case flared again in August, when Ms Hasina told an audio-only virtual press conference organised in New Delhi that she intended to return to Bangladesh in December, even though she could face imprisonment or be killed. Dhaka said it was outraged that she had been allowed to address the media, while India distanced itself from the event, saying it had been organised by a private media entity and that the government had no involvement whatsoever.
What happens next rests with New Delhi. India's Ministry of External Affairs has said the requests are being examined as part of its established processes, and it has announced no decision on handing her over. Legal specialists note that the treaty contains a dual-criminality rule and a provision on political offences, which could shape how the request is assessed, although neither government has said publicly how those provisions apply in this case.
For Dhaka, the extradition demand has become a test of the new government's promise to hold the former prime minister to account. For India, it is a delicate diplomatic question involving a former head of government who has lived in the country for more than two years. Until New Delhi answers, the stand-off is likely to remain one of the most sensitive issues between the two neighbours.
