Former interim government Adviser Asif Nazrul on Monday questioned ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s decision to seek a passport to return to Bangladesh, saying she was putting ordinary leaders and activists of her party at greater risk.

“Sheikh Hasina, you have made a mistake. Everyone understands that you will not return to the country. You are unnecessarily putting ordinary leaders and activists of your party at greater risk,” he said in a post on his verified Facebook page.

In the post, Asif Nazrul said Hasina seeking a passport to return to Bangladesh means she believes the circumstances are favourable for her to return to the country and face trial.

“But the problem is that she is a convicted criminal, he added.

He further said the Bangladesh government had sent a letter to India seeking Sheikh Hasina's extradition as a convicted criminal. A convicted individual whose extradition has been sought cannot return to the country with a new passport.

“She must return as a convicted criminal, and therefore, does not need a passport for this purpose. The Indian government can arrest her and hand her over to Bangladesh, he said.

Asif Nazrul said Hasina had made the extradition process easier by seeking a passport. The Bangladesh government can now argue that she is willing to return because there is justice in the country. Therefore, the argument that she should not be extradited because the trial is politically motivated is no longer acceptable.

This has created an opportunity for Bangladesh to press the matter more strongly with India, he added.

Earlier today, Sheikh Hasina requested a new passport and identity card ‌so she can return from self-imposed exile in India, according to a letter seen by Reuters, her first such communication since fleeing in 2024.

The request marks the clearest step by Hasina to act on her plan ​to return to Bangladesh in December, more than two years after a deadly uprising ​ended her long rule, raising the prospect of fresh political and legal tensions ⁠in a country where her party is now banned, Reuters reported.

She has told Reuters she plans to return ​to surrender before a court, and her aides said on Monday the date would be announced ​once various formalities were completed. Bangladesh's war-crimes court sentenced her to death in November last year in her absence for ordering a deadly crackdown on the student-led uprising, though she has denied the charges from exile.

"In view ​of the reported revocation of her existing Bangladeshi passport and National Identity Card (NID) by the Interim ​Government and other authorities, I respectfully request that you take the necessary steps to issue a new Bangladeshi ‌passport ⁠and National Identity Card for our client," Hasina's lawyers at London-based Matrix Chambers wrote to Preeti Rahman, acting high commissioner at Bangladesh's embassy in Delhi.