OMM Newsroom
Bangladesh has rejected ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s application for a new passport. The decision has cast doubt on her plan to return from India in December, more than two years after her government was toppled following student-led protests.
According to AnewZ, the 78-year-old former leader was sentenced to death in absentia over a deadly operation against protesters in 2024. Hasina’s Awami League party insists she will return despite the government’s refusal to issue new travel documents.
The decision has heightened tensions between Bangladesh and India, where Hasina has lived since August 2024. There are concerns that her return could trigger renewed political unrest in the country.
Bangladesh refuses to issue travel documents
Hasina’s lawyers applied for a new passport and national identity card at Bangladesh’s diplomatic mission in New Delhi on Monday, November 9. Both documents had been revoked by the interim government that took office after she was ousted.
The lawyers said Hasina, a Bangladeshi citizen, should have her application considered under the country’s laws and its international human rights obligations.
Bangladesh rejected the application. Deputy Foreign Minister Humayun Kobir said the government “does not issue passports to terrorists.”
Dhaka has again asked India to extradite Hasina under an existing bilateral treaty. India has not yet announced a decision on the extradition request. In April, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said it was examining the matter and seeking to build constructive relations with Bangladesh’s new government.
Hasina says she will return in December
Hasina fled Bangladesh on August 5, 2024, after student protests against quotas in government jobs escalated into nationwide demonstrations against her administration. The UN estimates that up to 1,400 people were killed during security forces’ operation against protesters.
In November 2025, a Bangladeshi court sentenced Hasina to death in absentia for ordering the operation against protesters. She denies the charges.
Hasina told Reuters in July that she planned to return to Bangladesh voluntarily and surrender to the authorities. “If death is coming, I want it to come on my own soil. My parents are buried there, and their blood was shed there,” she said.
Her return would pose a politically sensitive challenge for the government, which would have to decide how to handle a former prime minister facing execution.
The Awami League says Hasina will return in December even without a new passport. The party has not explained how she would travel without valid documents; aides said they would provide further information. The party has been barred from taking part in elections since Hasina was ousted.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party, led by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, came to power after the general election in February 2026. Rahman, too, spent years in exile during Hasina’s rule.
Political stability has improved since the election, but divisions remain deep between Hasina’s supporters and those demanding accountability for the violence in 2024. Her return could mobilize Awami League supporters and prompt fresh protests by her opponents.
Hasina’s presence in India strains ties between the two countries
Hasina’s stay in India has strained relations between the neighboring countries. Bangladesh is seeking her extradition following her conviction, but New Delhi has not publicly stated whether it will hand her over.
The dispute comes as Bangladesh seeks to recover from prolonged political and economic turmoil. The world’s second-largest garment exporter is facing rising living costs, while fuel and electricity shortages are putting additional pressure on the government. Renewed political unrest could threaten the country’s fragile recovery.
