Sheikh Hasina Seeks New Passport In Clearest Sign Of Bangladesh Return

Sheikh Hasina, former Prime Minister of Bangladesh. (Photo: Bangladesh Press Information Department, public domain via Wikimedia Commons)

Ousted Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has formally asked for a new passport and national identity card, taking the clearest step yet towards her planned return to Bangladesh in December, more than two years after she fled to India following a deadly student-led uprising. The request, made in a letter seen by the news agency Reuters, is her first such formal communication since she left Dhaka in August 2024. It turns months of speculation about a comeback into a concrete move, and it sets up a fresh political and legal confrontation between Hasina, the government in Dhaka, and New Delhi.

A Letter To The Embassy In Delhi

Hasina's lawyers at London-based Matrix Chambers wrote to Preeti Rahman, the acting high commissioner at the Bangladesh embassy in New Delhi, asking for fresh travel documents to be issued. The letter said her existing Bangladeshi passport and National Identity Card, known as the NID, had reportedly been revoked by the interim government and other authorities. It asked for the applications to be processed "expeditiously", citing her Bangladeshi nationality and obligations under international human rights instruments. Neither Rahman in Delhi nor spokespeople for Prime Minister Tarique Rahman in Dhaka immediately responded to requests for comment.

A Return To Face The Court

Hasina has told Reuters that she plans to return to Bangladesh to surrender before a court. Her aides said on Monday that the exact date would be announced once various formalities were completed. The stakes of that return are enormous. In November 2025, Bangladesh's war-crimes court, the International Crimes Tribunal, sentenced her to death in her absence for ordering a deadly crackdown on the student-led uprising that ended her long rule. Hasina has denied the charges from exile, while her Awami League party now stands banned in Bangladesh. Her lawyers' letter does not, by itself, establish that she has secured permission to travel. But it is the clearest public signal so far that she intends to act on her December return plan rather than simply talk about it.

Dhaka Wants Extradition, Not A Passport

The government in Dhaka has taken a very different view. It says it wants India to hand Hasina over under the two countries' extradition treaty, rather than issue travel documents for her to return on her own terms. State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir said on November 5 that a passport was not needed for Hasina's return through extradition. That position sets up a direct clash: Hasina is seeking documents to travel voluntarily and surrender before a court, while Dhaka wants her sent back through a formal legal process. India, where Hasina has lived since August 2024, has not publicly said how it will respond to either request.

What Happens Next

All eyes are now on December. If Hasina does return, Bangladesh faces the prospect of its most consequential political and legal drama in years — a former prime minister, sentenced to death in absentia, walking into a courtroom in a country where her party is banned and politics remains deeply divided. For now, the letter itself is the story: after more than two years of silence on formal channels, Hasina has put her return plan in writing and asked Delhi to act on it quickly.

Do you think Sheikh Hasina should be allowed to return home and face trial on her own terms, or should Dhaka's demand for extradition decide how she comes back? Share your view in the comments.