Hasina Requests New ID to Return Home
The ousted prime minister's legal team asks for documents while Dhaka pursues extradition from India.
By Fatou Kim ·
Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina asked for a new passport on Monday to help her leave India and return to Bangladesh. This request comes two years after mass protests forced her from power. Her legal team sent the letter to Bangladesh's diplomatic mission in New Delhi.
Abu Obaidha Arin, a counsel for Hasina, wrote in the letter urging the top diplomat to issue the travel document and a national identity card. He called the move a step toward her homecoming. Arin said Hasina looks forward to reclaiming her rights as a citizen after the previous regime revoked her documents.
He stated that she is determined to return by December. Arin added that she will undoubtedly return home. Hasina told The Associated Press in an interview this month that she would come back at any cost.
The current government in Dhaka has a different plan. Junior Minister for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir said on Thursday that Bangladesh wants India to hand Hasina over under an extradition treaty. He described her as a terrorist and a fugitive. Kobir noted that an active treaty exists between the two nations.
India has declined to surrender her. The Bangladesh military moved Hasina to India after student-led protests ended her tenure on August 5, 2024. A special tribunal sentenced her to death in 2025 for crimes against humanity. The court ruled she ordered the crackdown that killed hundreds and injured thousands.
The United Nations estimated that nearly 1,400 people died during the unrest. Hasina denies wrongdoing and challenged the legitimacy of the trial. She also rejected the death sentence. An interim government led the country after her ouster and held an election in February. Her Awami League party was barred from contesting that vote. Tarique Rahman, the son of a longtime rival, won that election in a landslide.
Officials in Dhaka had not commented on the new passport request by the time of this report. The letter was emailed to the diplomatic mission in New Delhi, correcting an earlier report that placed the recipient in London.
