The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Hasina must stay silent in India until Dhaka seeks her extradition: Yunus
‘ Attacks on Hindus political, not communal’
MUHAMMAD YUNUS, the head of Bangladesh's interim government, has said that former prime minister Sheikh Hasina making political remarks from India is an “unfriendly gesture", asserting that she must remain silent to prevent the discomfort to both countries until Dhaka requests her extradition. “If India wants to keep her until the time Bangladesh ( government) wants her back, the condition would be that she has to keep quiet,” he said.
In an interview with at his official residence in Dhaka, Yunus stressed that while Bangladesh values strong ties with India, New Delhi must move “beyond the narrative that portrays every other political party except Awami League as Islamist and that the country will turn into Afghanistan without Sheikh Hasina.”
“No one is comfortable with her stance there in India because we want her back to try her. She is there in India and at times she is talking, which is problematic. Had she been quiet, we would have forgotten it; people would have also forgotten it as she would have been in her own world. But... she is speaking and giving instructions. No one likes it,” he said. “It is not good for us or for India. There is discomfort regarding it,” he told PTI. “This is an unfriendly gesture towards us; she has been given shelter there and she is campaigning from there,” he said.
Yunus stated that the interim government is committed to ensuring justice for the people of Bangladesh against the atrocities, and justice requires that she be brought back to the country.
Yunus also said Thursday the issue of attacks on Hindus in his country is “exaggerated”, asserting that the incidents are “more political than communal.” He suggested that the attacks were not communal, but a fallout of a political upheaval as there is a perception that most Hindus supported the Awami League regime.
“I have said this to ( Prime Minister Narendra) Modi also that this is exaggerated. This issue has several dimensions. When the country went through an upheaval following the atrocities by ( Sheikh) Hasina and the Awami League, those who were with them also faced attacks,” he said.
“Now, while beating up Awami League cadres, they had beaten up Hindus as there is a perception that Hindus in Bangladesh mean Awami League supporters. I am not saying that what has happened is right, but some people are using it as an excuse to seize property. So, there is no clear distinction between Awami League supporters and Hindus,” he said.
“These attacks are political in nature and not communal. And India is propagating these incidents in a big way. We have not said that we can’t do anything; we have said that we are doing everything,” the Chief Adviser said.
He said, “The issue of trying to portray the conditions of minorities in such a big way is just an excuse.” Yunus said that when he met minority community leaders, he urged them to protest as citizens of the country with equal rights and not merely as Hindus.
( Reuters adds: Thousands of students rallied Thursday to mark the one- month anniversary of the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government. Families of those killed in the unrest also joined the “March for Martyrs” chanting “Blood of the martyrs is our power”.)