Veteran Indian politician and former Union minister Subramanian Swamy has urged New Delhi to reject Bangladesh's demand for Sheikh Hasina's extradition, arguing that the ousted prime minister should be allowed to remain in India because of what he described as discrimination against Muslim women in Bangladesh.

“We must refuse that demand since Islamic Bangladesh does not regard their Muslim females as equal to their Muslim men,” Swamy wrote on his verified X account on Tuesday.

The former minister also suggested that Hasina should receive an Indian passport and remain in the country for as long as she wishes.

“Hence Hasina will stay in Bharat as long as she wants with our passport,” he wrote.

In his post, Swamy claimed that Hasina had been overthrown by “hard line BD Males who don’t treat women as equals and can have four wives for one male Muslim.”

“Hindustan treats Women as equals theoretically,” he added.

Swamy also described Hasina as a former elected president of Bangladesh, although she served as prime minister, not president.

A former Union minister for law, justice and commerce, Swamy is a veteran politician and economist who has served in both houses of India's Parliament.

He was president of the Janata Party before its merger with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2013. He later served as a BJP member of the Rajya Sabha, India's upper house of Parliament.

Swamy is also the father of Suhasini Haidar, diplomatic editor of The Hindu, one of India's leading English-language newspapers. 

—