Sheikh Hasina has asked Bangladesh for a new passport so she can come home and face the court that sentenced her to death. The government in Dhaka answered the same day: no passport, and a renewed demand that India hand her over instead.
Hasina, who fled to India in August 2024 when a student led uprising ended her long rule, has told Reuters she intends to return in December and surrender before a court. Her aides said a date will be announced once the formalities are complete. It is her first formal approach to the Bangladeshi authorities since she left.
Her lawyers, from the London firm Matrix Chambers, wrote on Monday to Preeti Rahman, the acting Bangladeshi high commissioner in New Delhi. The letter, which Reuters saw, asks for a new passport and a new national identity card. The lawyers said her existing documents had reportedly been revoked, and they asked for quick processing on the basis of her Bangladeshi nationality and the country’s obligations under international human rights instruments.
The government rejected the request in blunt terms. Humaiun Kobir, the state minister for foreign affairs, told reporters the country does not provide a “passport to a terrorist.” He said: “She is a fugitive criminal. We have an active extradition treaty with India. We want her handed over.” The law minister, Md Asaduzzaman, said on Sunday that the government would take all necessary legal steps to bring her back under that treaty.
India has not said it will hand her over. Its foreign ministry did not immediately respond to questions on Monday. In April, the ministry said it was examining Bangladesh’s extradition request, which is decided through a legal process, not by announcement.
Hasina was sentenced to death in her absence in November 2025 by Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal, which held her responsible for ordering the crackdown on the 2024 protests in which many people were killed. She has denied the charges from exile. Her party, the Awami League, has been banned from politics, and a return in December would set up a confrontation between a former prime minister who says she wants her day in court and a government that says she will arrive only as a prisoner.
No travel date has been fixed, no documents have been issued, and India has made no commitment to extradite her.
Transparency note: This story is based on Reuters reporting, including the text of the lawyers’ letter, and on statements by Bangladeshi officials reported the same day. The government’s descriptions of Hasina are its own words and are quoted as such. She denies the charges against her.
