‘India always a good friend, saved my mother’s life’: Sheikh Hasina’s son Sajeeb Wazed

Sajeeb Wazed, son of ousted Bangladeshi prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, who has been given a death sentence for her crimes against humanity, said India has always been a good friend and had saved his mother’s life. He said there is no question of extradition since there is no due process and the laws have been amended illegally.

Speaking to news agency ANI, Wazed said, "India has always been a good friend. In the crisis, India has essentially saved my mother's life. If she hadn't left Bangladesh, the militants had planned on killing her. So, I am eternally grateful to Prime Minister Modi's government for saving my mother's life."

When asked about Hasina’s extradition, Wazed said, "For an extradition to happen, the judicial process has to be followed. What you have in Bangladesh is a government itself that's unelected, unconstitutional and illegal. In order to convict my mother, they amended laws to fast-track her trial. You cannot amend laws without a parliament. So these laws were amended illegally.”

Sheikh Hasina’s son said she was not allowed to hire her own defence attorneys and the attorneys were not even allowed into the courts. “Seventeen judges were terminated at the court before the trial, new judges appointed, some of whom had absolutely no experience on the bench and were politically connected. So, there was no due process whatsoever...and when there’s such a case, no country is going to extradite. Everything has been done illegally and without due process. For extradition to happen, there has to be due process," he said.

His remarks come as Bangladesh calls for the immediate extradition of Sheikh Hasina and former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal from India. The government in Dhaka asserts that their extradition is mandatory under the existing bilateral agreement and regards India's response as a test of ongoing cooperation.

The Bangladeshi Foreign Ministry, via the state-run BSS news agency, stated: "We urge the Indian government to immediately hand over these two convicted individuals to the Bangladeshi authorities." The ministry highlighted that the transfer is a "compulsory responsibility" under the bilateral extradition agreement, and warned that providing shelter to those convicted of crimes against humanity would be considered an "unfriendly act."

Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain confirmed, "We will officially communicate our position to India. Whether the letter goes tonight or tomorrow, it will certainly go." He added that previous efforts to secure Hasina’s return had gone unanswered, but stated that the situation was different now that the judicial process has been completed and they have been convicted. Bangladesh will invoke the current extradition treaty for this request. When asked about possible Indian refusal, he said, "We will address that situation when it arises."