Sheikh Hasina herself did not apply for a passport, says Delhi High Commission

The Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi has said that ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina herself did not apply for a new passport and national identity card (NID).

Saidur Rahman, press minister at the Bangladesh High Commission in Delhi, told BanglaNews that Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted in the student-people mass uprising, has not applied for a new passport or NID.

He said the High Commission received an email from an organisation named Matrix Chambers. The email contained a request to issue a passport and NID in Sheikh Hasina's name. But he said there is no way to know whether the request really came on behalf of Sheikh Hasina.

Saidur Rahman said the email had no document or proof relating to Sheikh Hasina's approval or authorisation. However, the High Commission has forwarded the email to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Sources said UK-based lawyer Steven Powles KC sent a letter on Monday (9 November) to Preeti Rahman, the acting High Commissioner of Bangladesh in New Delhi, requesting the issuance of a new passport and NID for the former prime minister.

A report by the international news agency Reuters revealed that the ousted former prime minister, while staying in India, sent a formal application through a lawyer to the Delhi mission on Monday for a new passport and national identity card with the aim of returning home.

Meanwhile, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humayun Kabir, at a press briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday, described the application as extremely laughable. He said Bangladesh does not give a passport to a terrorist.

Humayun Kabir said a convicted person sentenced to death by a court and the prime accused in the killings of 2024 has no right whatsoever to such a civic facility.

He further said that if Sheikh Hasina wants to return to Bangladesh, she will have to face trial in accordance with the obligations of the existing extradition treaty with India. He said New Delhi has been given a very clear message to hand her over to the Bangladeshi authorities immediately under the framework of the signed extradition treaty.

The state minister also expressed doubt about where the professional and moral integrity of lobbyists or law firms stands if they take up her case on foreign soil merely for financial gain.

Md Aminul Islam, chief prosecutor of the International Crimes Tribunal, also described the application as a mere political stunt while exchanging views with journalists at his office on Monday.

The chief prosecutor said the prosecution will hold a formal press conference on Tuesday to present all information about Sheikh Hasina before the people of the country. He said that if she really had courage, instead of fleeing she should have returned home and faced the legal trial process for the killings committed during the July uprising of 2024.