Ousted PM Sheikh Hasina seeks passport in sign of Bangladesh return plan

What the report says

Bangladesh’s ousted prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, has asked for a new passport and national identity card, a move that signals she is preparing to return from exile in India. Al Jazeera, citing Reuters and Hasina’s aides, said the request was made as she seeks to follow through on an earlier pledge to go back to Bangladesh in December. Hasina has reportedly lived in India for about two years.

According to the report, Hasina said she intended to surrender before a Bangladeshi court, with the date to be announced after formalities are completed. Her letter to the government asked that the paperwork be handled quickly and on the basis of her Bangladeshi nationality. The report also notes that her return would be politically significant because she remains a polarizing figure.

Hasina was sentenced to death in absentia by Bangladesh’s war crimes court last November over allegations tied to a deadly crackdown on student protests in 2024. United Nations estimates cited by Al Jazeera put the death toll from those protests at as many as 1,400. She led Bangladesh from 1996 to 2001 and again from 2009 until 2024, and she is the daughter of the country’s founder, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Her possible return could reopen major legal and political questions in Bangladesh, while also affecting the government’s efforts to stabilize the country and its economy. The report also suggests it could influence ties with India, which worsened after Hasina fled there in 2024.