Bangladesh on Wednesday night strongly protested former prime minister and convicted fugitive Sheikh Hasina’s live interaction with the media in New Delhi, accusing her and her associates of launching “venomous vitriol” against the state and people of Bangladesh.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Dhaka deeply regretted that the event was allowed to take place despite its prior concerns conveyed to the Indian government over the likely implications for the two countries’ bilateral relations.

“Bangladesh is outraged that the absconding convicted genocider Sheikh Hasina was allowed this evening to engage in live interaction with the media in New Delhi where she and her henchmen launched venomous vitriol against the State of Bangladesh and her people,” the ministry said in a statement.

The statement came as Bangladesh observed the second anniversary of the July Revolution, which the ministry said made Hasina’s interaction on Indian soil “an affront to the sovereignty of Bangladesh and a grievous insult to the martyrs of the July Revolution.”

The government also accused Hasina and her associates of attempting to deny facts established by the United Nations regarding the killing of civilians, including children, during the July-August 2024 violence.

It described such efforts as a “futile attempt” by Hasina and her associates to reverse the course of history.

“The people of Bangladesh had already rejected such heinous attempts in the past and continue to do so now,” the statement said.

The ministry said the people of Bangladesh, upholding the spirit of the July Revolution, had firmly resolved that the country would never return to “the dark days of fascism” and would never become a “client State.”

It further said Hasina and her “mafia enterprise” would have no place in Bangladesh’s political landscape.

At the same time, Bangladesh reaffirmed its desire to maintain a constructive, mutually beneficial and forward-looking relationship with India based on sovereign equality, mutual respect, non-interference in each other’s internal affairs and national dignity.

However, the ministry expressed disappointment that Bangladesh’s repeated requests to India for the return of Hasina under the 2013 extradition treaty between the two countries had yet to receive a response.

“On the contrary, allowing her the opportunity to openly interact with the media under any pretext is deeply hurtful to our people’s sentiment and detrimental to the development of harmonious bilateral relations between Bangladesh and India,” it said.