The Foreign Affairs State Minister says the former prime minister must return through the Bangladesh-India extradition treaty, surrender to the court, and serve her sentence. Bangladesh will not issue a new passport to former prime minister Sheikh Hasina to facilitate her return from India. State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir insisted that she must return through the existing extradition treaty between the two countries.
"She has been sentenced to death. Bangladesh doesn't provide passports to terrorists," Kobir told reporters when asked about the application for Hasina’s new Bangladeshi passport and National Identity Card (NID). Her legal representatives in the United Kingdom submitted the application.
The lawyers argued that Hasina remains a Bangladeshi citizen and is therefore entitled to seek the necessary identity and travel documents under applicable laws and international human rights obligations. The letter was addressed to Acting High Commissioner Preeti Rahman and forwarded to Bangladesh's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The request is particularly significant because Hasina has expressed her intention to return to Bangladesh from India in December 2026, nearly two years after leaving the country following the mass uprising in August 2024.
Rejecting the idea of facilitating Hasina's return through a new passport, Kobir said there was already a specific legal mechanism available under the extradition agreement between Bangladesh and India. He argued that Hasina should request the Indian government to hand her over to Bangladesh under the treaty, after which she would be brought before the relevant court.
"If she truly wishes to return, there is a specific legal process for doing so. An extradition treaty exists between Bangladesh and India; she should ask the Indian government to hand her over to Bangladesh under the terms of that treaty. She should return, surrender to the court, and serve her sentence," the state minister stated.
He also questioned why the government should treat Hasina as an ordinary traveller when an extradition process was already available. Kobir criticized the British law firm representing Hasina, questioning its decision to pursue the passport application despite the former prime minister's legal status in Bangladesh.
Hasina was sentenced to death in November 2025 by Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal for crimes against humanity in connection with the deadly crackdown on protesters during the July 2024 uprising. The tribunal ruled that she bore responsibility for the crackdown that resulted in widespread deaths and injuries. Hasina has rejected the accusations and disputed the legitimacy of the proceedings. The United Nations previously estimated that as many as 1,400 people may have been killed during the violence between July and August 2024.
Hasina left Bangladesh on August 5, 2024, following the collapse of her government and subsequently took refuge in India. Ever since then, Bangladesh has repeatedly requested Hasina's extradition from India under the bilateral treaty. However, New Delhi has not agreed to hand her over. Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Dinesh Trivedi previously said the extradition request was being examined through established legal procedures and that the process involved judicial considerations. India's Ministry of External Affairs has also said that Bangladesh's request is under consideration in accordance with the relevant procedures. The extradition issue has remained a significant diplomatic concern between Dhaka and New Delhi since Hasina's departure.
However, Hasina reiterated her determination to return to Bangladesh despite the death sentence and the possibility of facing arrest.
"If death is my destiny, I would rather die on the soil of my own country, among my own people," she told the news agencies.
For now, the government maintains that extradition, rather than the issuance of a new passport or travel document, is the appropriate route. Whether India will agree to the request remains uncertain.
