The BNP Govt in Bangladesh might have played a good diplomatic game by keeping former PM Sheikh Hasina at bay.
Rejecting passport on technical ground or otherwise would also mean Dhaka does not want to create any fresh political row by allowing protests and rallies by the Awami League leadership and cadres.
Bangladesh has ruled out the possibility of issuing Sheikh Hasina 'a new passport'.
Instead Dhaka is insisting that she must "return to Bangladesh through the existing extradition procedures" between India and Bangladesh.
On Sheikh Hasina seeking a fresh passport and national identity card to facilitate her return to Bangladesh, former Indian Diplomat Veena Sikri said:
"Sheikh Hasina has clearly announced that she wants to go back and is prepared to face the courts in Bangladesh. It is a logical move for her to apply for a travel document because they have cancelled her passport...".
Bangladesh first formally sought her extradition through a diplomatic note verbale in December 2024 and renewed the request following her conviction in November 2025. Hasina has lately reiterated her resolve to return to Bangladesh this December.
Dhaka’s extradition request included the required legal documents under the 2013 India-Bangladesh Extradition Treaty. The treaty provides for the surrender of individuals charged with or convicted of offences, while excluding certain political offences.
However, it lists serious crimes, including murder, manslaughter, assault and incitement to murder, that cannot automatically be treated as political offences.
Ms Sikri also said:
"The reaction of the Bangladesh government has been very surprising because the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Humayun Kabir, is still harping on extradition.
Now, it is very clear from his focus on so-called extradition that they do not want Sheikh Hasina to go back"
She further opined:
"... Just give her a travel document; she will be back, and then the legal process can take its course.... The extradition process takes two to three years...".
Ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has reportedly applied for a new Bangladeshi passport and National Identity Card, with a UK-based legal advisory firm, Matrix Chambers, emailing the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi to request their issuance on her behalf.
Hasina’s passport and NID were revoked during the tenure of the interim government. Matrix Chambers sent the email on November 9, seeking new travel and identity documents for Hasina. Speaking to 'The Daily Star', Bangladesh mission’s press minister, Md Saidur Rahman, said they had received an email from an organisation called Matrix Chambers requesting Hasina’s passport and NID. The firm claimed to be Hasina’s legal counsel.
“We are not sure whether the request is genuine. There is no way for us to establish that the request was made on behalf of Sheikh Hasina, as the email sent by the law firm did not include any document or proof of her authorisation. Still, we have forwarded the email to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” he said.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Bangladesh official said passports and NIDs were highly personal documents and that a legal representative could process such applications only with proper authorisation from the individual concerned.
Asked how she could return to Bangladesh without a valid travel document, the official said a passport was a state privilege, not a right, and that governments could revoke passports to prevent criminals from fleeing.
“To repatriate or extradite someone, our missions normally issue a one-way travel pass. Once India completes Hasina’s legal process, we will be able to issue that pass,” the official added.
Sheikh Hasina has been staying in India since fleeing Bangladesh in the face of a mass uprising in August 2024.
In November 2025, she was sentenced to death in absentia by the International Crimes Tribunal for crimes against humanity.
ends
No comments:
Post a Comment