DHAKA, November 9 (Aalimi Nation) – Bangladesh's ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina has applied for a new passport and a national identity card, a move that appears to signal she intends to carry out her pledge to return to the country in December, officials and her aides said on Monday.
The applications were submitted at the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi, according to a letter cited in accounts of the request. In it, Hasina asked that the applications be processed "expeditiously" on the basis of her Bangladeshi nationality. It is the first such application since she left for India on August 5, 2024, as a student-led uprising ended her government.
Speaking at a press briefing at the Home Ministry in Dhaka, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed said the government had not yet confirmed the reports. "I have not yet been able to verify whether this is true," he said, adding that the foreign and law ministries were examining the matter.
Ahmed said the review would cover the relevant legal provisions, including whether the applications were properly submitted and whether Hasina is entitled to apply at all. He said no step would be taken until that assessment was complete.
Hasina told a news agency that she plans to surrender before a court in Bangladesh. Her aides said on Monday that the date of her return would be announced once certain formalities are completed. The Awami League has said her legal representatives lodged the paperwork in New Delhi.
A war crimes tribunal in Dhaka sentenced Hasina to death in absentia last November on charges linked to the crackdown on the 2024 protests. United Nations estimates say as many as 1,400 people may have been killed during the unrest.
Authorities in Dhaka have sought her return from India under an extradition treaty between the two countries. Ahmed said the Foreign Ministry has written to the Indian government on the matter. New Delhi has so far not handed her over.
Junior Foreign Affairs Minister Humaiun Kobir said last week: "We want Hasina to be handed over. She will be handed over." He also said that "there is an active extradition treaty between Bangladesh and India."
Hasina, the daughter of Bangladesh's founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, served as prime minister from 1996 to 2001 and again from 2009 to 2024. She was removed from power after protests that began over the restoration of a quota system for government jobs and grew into a wider movement against her rule.
Her return, if it goes ahead, would raise fresh legal and political questions for Dhaka. She retains support among sections of the population, and her presence could complicate the government's efforts to stabilise politics and the economy after two years of upheaval.
The Foreign and Law ministries are expected to report on whether the applications can be accepted. Hasina's aides have said a return date will be announced separately. Officials in Dhaka have not said whether they would issue the documents, and there was no immediate public comment from the Indian government on the application.
