Ousted Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Hasina has taken a clear step toward returning home by requesting a new passport and national identity card. Her lawyers submitted the formal application on Monday to the Bangladeshi embassy in New Delhi, where she has lived in exile since 2024.
The letter, seen by Reuters, marks the strongest signal yet that Hasina intends to act on her stated plan to go back to Bangladesh in December. Aides confirmed the exact date will be announced only after necessary formalities are completed. She has said she wants to return and surrender before a court.
Hasina fled the country more than two years ago following a deadly student-led uprising that ended her long rule. Bangladesh’s war-crimes court later sentenced her to death in her absence for ordering a crackdown on the protests. She has consistently denied the charges from exile.
In the letter, lawyers from London-based Matrix Chambers wrote to the acting high commissioner in Delhi. They noted the reported revocation of her existing passport and National Identity Card by the interim government and other authorities. The request asks for new documents to be issued quickly, citing her rights as a Bangladeshi citizen under national and international human rights law.
Hasina’s Awami League party, once the country’s largest, was banned after her fall. Many of her colleagues remain jailed or live in exile in India and elsewhere. Despite this, she still holds support among sections of the population after serving as prime minister for roughly 20 years across multiple terms.
A return could heighten political and legal tensions in Bangladesh as the current government works to restore stability. At the same time, it might ease strained relations with India, which offered her refuge and saw ties deteriorate after her ouster.
Embassy officials in Delhi and spokespeople for the government in Dhaka have not yet responded to requests for comment on the passport application.
