Hasina’s passport bid puts Dhaka and Delhi on a collision course

Résumé détaillé

Ousted Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has sought a new passport and national identity card through lawyers in London, setting up a legal and diplomatic confrontation…

Ousted Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has sought a new passport and national identity card through lawyers in London, setting up a legal and diplomatic confrontation between Dhaka and New Delhi over whether a convicted fugitive can obtain travel documents while facing extradition.

The request, submitted to the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi by Matrix Chambers, comes as Hasina prepares for a possible return in December, more than two years after fleeing to India following a student-led uprising that ended her 15-year uninterrupted rule.

But Bangladeshi officials have questioned whether the lawyers were authorized to represent her, while the government is examining the legal grounds for issuing documents to a former leader sentenced to death for crimes against humanity.

In a letter addressed to Acting High Commissioner Preeti Rahman, British barrister Steven Powles KC sought a replacement passport and National Identity Card, or NID, arguing that Hasina remains a Bangladeshi citizen despite the reported cancellation of her existing documents.

The correspondence, first reported by Reuters on Monday, asked the mission to process the request promptly, citing Bangladesh’s domestic laws and international human rights obligations.

A senior official at the Bangladesh High Commission told this correspondent that the mission had received the correspondence but had not established whether Hasina had personally authorized the lawyers to act on her behalf.

“We are not sure whether Sheikh Hasina officially appointed this law firm,” the official said. “Before treating the request as official, we need confirmation that she authorized the firm to act on her behalf.”

The official also questioned why Hasina, who lives in New Delhi, had chosen to communicate through British lawyers rather than approach the mission directly.

The dispute comes against a complicated legal backdrop. Hasina was sentenced to death in absentia in November 2025 by Bangladesh’s International Crimes…

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