DHAKA – Former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has taken a significant step toward her potential return to Bangladesh after two years of exile. On Monday, Hasina requested a new passport, a move that underscores her determination to reclaim her rights as a Bangladeshi citizen following her ousting in a mass uprising.
The Bangladeshi government has been actively pursuing Hasina’s extradition from India, previously dismissing the notion that she required new identification documents to come back home. In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Hasina expressed her commitment to returning to Bangladesh by December, asserting that she would do so “at any cost.”
In correspondence sent to Bangladesh’s diplomatic mission in New Delhi, Hasina’s counsel formally requested that the necessary steps be taken to issue her a passport and national identity card. Abu Obaidha Arin, an aide to Hasina, emphasized the importance of this request, stating, “This is a significant step toward her homecoming.” He highlighted that Hasina looks forward to reclaiming her fundamental rights as a Bangladeshi citizen.
“She is determined to return to Bangladesh by December, and she will undoubtedly return home,” Arin asserted, reinforcing Hasina’s resolute stance on her return.
While the Bangladesh government has yet to comment on Hasina’s request, Junior Minister for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir recently reiterated the country’s desire to have Hasina extradited under an existing treaty with India. However, India has so far declined to comply with this request, complicating the situation further.
“We want Hasina to be handed over. She will be handed over. She is a terrorist. She is a fugitive. There is an active extradition treaty between Bangladesh and India,” Kobir stated in remarks made to reporters in Dhaka.
Hasina was removed from power on August 5, 2024, following student-led protests that led to her exile in India. In 2025, a special tribunal sentenced her to death for crimes against humanity, holding her accountable for a crackdown that reportedly left hundreds dead and thousands injured. The United Nations has estimated that nearly 1,400 individuals lost their lives during this tumultuous period. Hasina has consistently denied any wrongdoing and has challenged the legitimacy of the tribunal’s verdict.
After her ousting, an interim government was established in Bangladesh, which held elections in February 2025. Notably, Hasina’s Awami League party was barred from participating in these elections, leading to the rise of Tarique Rahman, the son of a long-time political rival, who won in a landslide.
The evolving situation surrounding Sheikh Hasina’s potential return to Bangladesh remains a focal point of political discourse, raising questions about the future of Bangladeshi democracy and governance.
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This version has corrected that the letter was sent to a diplomat in New Delhi, not London.
