Former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has formally requested a fresh Bangladeshi passport and National Identity Card (NID), signalling a concrete step toward her stated plan to return to Bangladesh in December 2026, her party the Awami League announced on Monday, 9 November. The move comes after reports that the previous Muhammad Yunus-led interim administration had revoked her existing travel and identity documents.

How the Request Was Filed

Through her legal representatives at London-based Matrix Chambers, Hasina has approached the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi, urging officials to expedite the issuance of the documents. The formal application cited her Bangladeshi nationality and Bangladesh's obligations under international human rights instruments. The Awami League described the passport request as a significant step toward fulfilling her publicly stated intention to return home after spending more than two years in India.

Hasina's Declared Intent to Return

Hasina has repeatedly and publicly reaffirmed her plan to return to Bangladesh and face the legal proceedings pending against her. Addressing a Washington-based press conference virtually in October, she declared she was determined to go back despite the possibility of being arrested, tortured, or killed, saying she could not remain away while her supporters and ordinary Bangladeshis continued to suffer.

"How risky it is, I don't care. I have to go back," she said. Hasina also thanked the Indian government for the refuge extended to her, drawing a parallel with 1975, when she and her sister survived the assassination of several members of their family. "Well, thanks to Indian government, and the people, all party, they received me just like 1975," she said.

Dhaka's Sharp Rebuttal

Bangladesh's interim administration has sharply rejected the premise that Hasina would need a passport to return. State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir stated last week that Dhaka wanted India to hand over Hasina under the existing bilateral extradition treaty, characterising the passport request as irrelevant to the actual mechanism of her return.

"We want Hasina to be handed over. She will be handed over. She is a terrorist. She is a fugitive. There is an active extradition treaty between Bangladesh and India," Kobir was quoted as saying by Bangladeshi newspaper The Daily Star. He added: "Is she coming to visit her in-laws' home in Rangpur that we need to give her a passport?... This is a matter of handover, and a judicial process is in place."

Awami League's Statement

The Awami League framed Hasina's return as a matter of national identity and fundamental rights. "The daughter of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the Father of the Nation, Sheikh Hasina's roots, identity and political journey are inseparably connected to Bangladesh. Her homeland is where she belongs, and her desire to return is a matter of national identity and the fundamental right to return to one's own country. No force on earth can forever stand in the way of the daughter of Bangabandhu returning to her roots, her homeland and her people," the party stated.

Background and What Comes Next

Hasina's government collapsed in August 2024 amid a mass uprising, after which she fled to India, where she has since remained. Multiple criminal and legal cases have been filed against her in Bangladesh in the period since. The standoff between Hasina's formal document request and Dhaka's extradition position sets up a diplomatic and legal confrontation between India and Bangladesh that is likely to intensify as the December timeline approaches. How New Delhi responds to both the High Commission request and Dhaka's extradition demand will be closely watched.