Ousted Leader Sheikh Hasina Seeks New Passport as Part of Plan to Return to Bangladesh
Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh's former prime minister, has requested a new passport and identity card, steps she needs to return from her exile in India. Al Jazeera reported that her letter to the Bangladeshi government asked that the request be processed quickly, on the basis of her Bangladeshi nationality.
Hasina has lived in India for two years. She fled there in 2024 after a student-led protest movement forced her from power. She had served as prime minister from 1996 to 2001 and again from 2009 to 2024. She is the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founder and first president of Bangladesh.
Her return would bring her back to a country where she faces serious legal action. Bangladesh's war crimes court sentenced her to death in absentia, meaning without her being present, for ordering a deadly crackdown on student protests in 2024. United Nations estimates say as many as 1,400 people may have been killed in those protests. The Hindu reports that Bangladesh is also pursuing her extradition, the formal process by which one country hands over a person to another.
Hasina has said she intends to surrender before a court in Bangladesh. She told Reuters of that intention. In an interview with The Associated Press, published on November 8, she said she would return to Bangladesh in December at any cost. The Hill, carrying the AP report carried those remarks.
Her aides have said the date of her return will be announced once the required formalities are completed. Those formalities include the passport and identity documents she has now requested.
