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DHAKA: State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humayun Kabir has categorically stated that Bangladesh will not issue a passport to ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
He said the verdict in Hasina’s trial had already been delivered and described her as a terrorist and a death-row convict. Bangladesh wants to bring her back from India under the prisoner exchange agreement, he added.
The state minister made the remarks during a briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday (November 9).
Regarding Hasina’s application for a new passport, Humayun Kabir said, “Her application for passport renewal is ridiculous. She is a death-row convict. A convicted person, a murderer, cannot make such an application.”
He further said that if Sheikh Hasina wants to return to Bangladesh, she must do so under the prisoner exchange agreement with India. He also questioned the ethical position of any lobbyists working on her behalf solely for money.
The state minister said Bangladesh had clearly informed India that Hasina must be sent back under the prisoner exchange agreement.
Meanwhile, Sheikh Hasina has applied for a new passport and national identity card (NID) as part of preparations to return to Bangladesh from India. Her lawyers sent a letter regarding the applications to the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi on Monday (November 9), according to a letter obtained by Reuters.
Lawyers from London-based legal firm Matrix Chambers, acting on behalf of Hasina’s legal team, sent the letter to Preeti Rahman, Bangladesh’s acting high commissioner in New Delhi.
Sheikh Hasina fled Bangladesh and took shelter in India after being ousted amid the student-led mass uprising on August 5, 2024. This is her first formal application to the Bangladesh High Commission for a new passport and national identity card since then.
