Ousted Bangladesh Leader Hasina Seeks New Passport for December Return

Former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina has requested a new passport and national identity card from the Bangladesh Embassy in New Delhi as part of her plan to return home in December. Her lawyers at London-based Matrix Chambers submitted the request to acting high commissioner Preeti Rahman on Monday, marking her first contact with the embassy since fleeing in August 2024.

The lawyers cited the reported revocation of her existing passport and national ID by the interim government and asked for expeditious processing based on her Bangladeshi nationality and international human rights obligations. Hasina’s aides said the return date would be announced once formalities were completed.

“Let her tell India: Yes, there is an extradition treaty. Please hand me over. I killed this many people, and I am ready to face the sentence. Please execute me there.”

Bangladesh’s home minister Salahuddin Ahmed said authorities were reviewing the application and described Hasina as a convicted offender who had taken refuge abroad. He stated that a letter had already been sent to India seeking her extradition through due process.

Junior foreign minister Humaiun Kobir told reporters that Hasina should simply surrender to face justice, calling her a thief, a bandit and a terrorist who fled. Chief prosecutor Md Aminul Islam dismissed the passport application as nothing but a political stunt.

Hasina was sentenced to death in absentia in November 2025 by Bangladesh’s war-crimes court over her alleged role in ordering a deadly crackdown during the 2024 student-led uprising that ended her 15-year rule. She has denied the allegations and said she was fully aware she faced being hanged.

Her continued presence in India has strained ties between Dhaka and New Delhi. Hasina fled to India in 2024 and has not been seen in public since, though she has taken part in online news conferences by telephone.