India declines comment on Sheikh Hasina’s passport request, says travel document needed

India on Tuesday refused to be drawn on the issue of former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina seeking a passport from the Bangladesh high commission to facilitate her return home next month, with the external affairs ministry only saying that such travel plans will require a “travel document”.

Sheikh Hasina’s passport was revoked by Bangladeshi authorities after she fled to India, and the activities of her Awami League party were banned. (HT_PRINT/ File)Hasina, who has lived in self-exile in India since her government was toppled in a student-led uprising in August 2024, approached the Bangladesh mission in New Delhi on Monday to seek a passport and a national identity card ahead of her planned return home in December.

The request was swiftly dismissed by Bangladesh’s deputy foreign minister Humaiun Kobir, who reiterated Dhaka’s demand for her extradition. External affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal declined to comment when he was asked about Hasina seeking a passport from Bangladeshi authorities at a regular media briefing.

“The question that you asked is essentially a question that you must pose to the Bangladesh high commission. This is a matter which they would be in a better position to convey to you, what is the sense they have on this particular issue,” he said.

Jaiswal responded to another question on Bangladesh’s demand for Hasina’s extradition by repeating India’s stated position that this is “a legal matter, and it will be dealt with accordingly”. When Jaiswal was asked specifically whether the extradition of a person will be possible if they did not possess a passport, he replied: “Obviously, for the travel of people, you need a travel document.

That is what I understand, but it is a technical matter.” Hasina’s passport was revoked by Bangladeshi authorities after she fled to India, and the activities of her Awami League party were banned. Her request for a passport and national identity card are being seen as preparations for her return to Bangladesh in December, since possession of the travel document will give her a greater say in deciding the circumstances of her return.

The former PM has said in several recent interviews that she intends to return home next month despite facing the possibility of arrest. Hasina was sentenced to death by Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal in 2025 for crimes against humanity on the ground that she was responsible for ordering a crackdown on student-led protests that left hundreds dead and thousands injured.

Hasina denies any wrongdoing and has rejected the tribunal’s verdict and challenged the legitimacy of her trial. Her presence in India has emerged as a key irritant in relations between New Delhi and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) government in Dhaka.

Bangladeshi officials have also urged the Indian side not to allow her to air her political views from Indian soil. Rezaul Hasan Laskar is Foreign Editor with the Hindustan Times, which he joined in 2015. He began as a journalist in his hometown of Shillong in northeast India and has worked in newspapers and wire services over the years.

He moved to New Delhi in 1997 and initially focused on defence, national security, Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast, while also working of foreign policy and international relations. He has been part of the media delegation accompanying PMs on foreign visits and has reported from destinations ranging from Tibet to Ukraine.

Between 2007 and 2013, he was the Press Trust of India correspondent in Pakistan, one of only two Indian journalists allowed to report from the country. He extensively covered Pakistan’s domestic politics and the life of the common people, as well as the fallout of the 2008 Mumbai attacks on India-Pakistan relations and the subsequent trial in Pakistan of the suspects involved in the attack.

As part of his reportage in Pakistan, he travelled the breadth of the country, from the Swat Valley to Balochistan. Reza’s first gig in journalism was writing a weekly music column, and music – especially classic rock – remains a keen interest.

He is also a movie buff and a keen photographer.Read More