The International Crimes Tribunal in Dhaka has handed death sentence for ‘crimes against humanity’ to former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina—who fled Bangladesh on August 5 and sought asylum in India after the government cracked down on student protests that gripped the country mid-July last year—and former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, who is currently in exile. IG Abdullah Mamun was sentenced to five years in prison after admitting his role in suppressing the protests. The tribunal has also ordered the confiscation of all the assets of the two sentenced to death. Hasina responded that the verdict by what she called 'fraud tribunal' formed under the leadership of an unelected interim government, is biased and politically motivated. She also demanded that if justice was the goal, the charges against them should have been brought before the International Criminal Court (ICC) based in The Hague. Hasina, who continued in power after her party won 288 out of 300 seats in a general election boycotted by the opposition, never expected the backlash from the court she founded, which hanged opposition leaders following a farcical trial, despite strong opposition from international human rights organizations including Amnesty International. The 'Kangaroo Tribunal' mercilessly hanged to death Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Muttee-ur-Rehman Nizami, Secretary Ali Ahsan Mujahid, and Asst. Secretary Qamaruzzaman, senior leader Abdul Qadir Mulla, Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader and former minister Salahuddin Chowdhury, and Muslim League leader Furqan Malik accusing them of committing war crimes colluding with Pakistan army during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. Now, as the ruthless divine justice takes revenge, she calls the International Crimes Tribunal, under the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus as ‘Kangaroo Tribunal’. History will always mark this as the weakness of dictators.
The tribunal found that 1,400 lives were lost to the Hasina government's gunfire during the student protests that rocked the country in July-August 2024. In an interview with the Indian newspaper 'The Hindu' in November, the former Bangladeshi prime minister admitted that 'the security forces have made some mistakes,' and argued that senior government officials who tried to stop the violence had to do so to reduce the loss of life. The tribunal's decision is not final, and the law allows to appeal in the Supreme Court. Her position is that justice can only expected from a government that comes to power through free and fair elections in which her party, the Awami League, also participates. While insisting on this, Hasina did not even for a moment think about the model of governance she had set. Her 15 years long ‘free and impartial’ democratic rule saw her jailing opposition leader and former Prime Minister, Begum Khaleda Zia, hanging the leaders of the second largest opposition party, the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and the outfit was banned from participating in elections and she captured power in the polls boycotted by the opposition. Students took to streets when the Awami League's unruliness transgressed all boundaries of civil rights alongside imposing 30 percent reservation in educational institutions and jobs for the power mongers in Awami League under the guise of children of those who participated in the freedom struggle. The security forces' mission to quell the unstoppable protest of young generation stole 1,400 lives. Hasina and her party members must have been thinking that setting up a ‘Secular board’ outside could justify any heinous act.
Responding to Bangladesh's demand to release Hasina, the Modi government has said that India is committed to upholding the interests of the people of Bangladesh, including peace, democracy, and stability. Offering asylum to Hasina, who fled the country realizing that continuing to live there would be suicidal, is understandable. However, since the interim government, led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, came to power, our government's approach to neighboring country has been one of cautious. Engaging in confrontation with Bangladesh, which shares a 4,000-km border with India and is simultaneously seeking closer ties with China, Pakistan and the United States, is not ideal at this crucial juncture. It seems India is responding realising that it is healthy to bring back diplomatic ties to normalize relations at the political level.