Challenges India Faces in Granting Asylum to Sheikh Hasina
Sheikh Hasina’s asylum in India faces challenges amid diplomatic sensitivities and regional tensions, as the UK and US refuse her entry. India weighs options.
Why India Might Hesitate to Grant Asylum to Sheikh Hasina Amid Diplomatic and Regional Tensions
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was recently removed from power, has been under what can be called ‘house arrest’ for more than 24 hours now, being kept in a house near Delhi. After a highly emotional performance, fleeing from Dhaka owing to rampaging protests, Hasina is seeking asylum at the moment. The scrutiny was first focused towards the UK since her sister Sheikh Rehana holds the British nationality. But British officials have said that refugees will not be accepted in Britain to seek asylum there as the British immigration law requires asylum seekers to apply for refuge in the first country that he or she arrives at that is safe for him or her.
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This has brought India to the forefront, a nation to which Hasina had fled before. She survived her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s assassination in 1975 and later became a refugee in Delhi where she used a fake identity for six years. Today the development of technology and its impact on daily life is significantly different from many years ago. At home, Hasina receives severe backlash, described as authoritarian and accused of human rights abuses during her three leadership terms spanning fifteen years. The present Indian government of Narendra Modi has mainly supported Hasina in the past due to her secular policies that are consistent with India’s interests. However, allowing her a refugee status could alert the world to India’s interference in Bangladesh’s crisis.
This could have implications beyond India as the country’s actions might inspire others to issue similar bans. Supporting Hasina to remain in power can be interpreted as meddling into the conflict,thus fueling even more pre animosity against India in Dhaka. The Islamist factions, which contributed to Hasina’s removal from power, could portray India as an interfering country. It can obviously deepen the instability of the areas in question and affect the 4096 km border between India and Bangladesh. However, this hunch is supported by reports indicating that Hasina’s visa had possibly been revoked by the US, thus making her asylum search even more challenging.
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During talks, India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar noted that Hasina’s presence in Delhi is at the moment being evaluated and India will help to organize her further moves and she is likely to shift to Europe. The Indian government is very cautious in making decisions in this context for its vested interest in the region but at the same time in order to offer ‘safe asylum’ to the besieged Prime Minister.
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