Hasina seeks passport, but no other top Awami League leaders known to have followed suit

No senior Awami League leader other than Sheikh Hasina is known to have sought a new passport or travel document through Bangladesh's diplomatic missions abroad ahead of the party's announced return in December, according to officials contacted by Daily Waadaa.

While Hasina has approached the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi through a British law firm, other senior party figures living abroad have not made similar applications at the missions checked by Waadaa.

Waadaa spoke with officials at at least five Bangladesh missions, including in India and other countries where senior Awami League leaders are believed to be living in exile. The officials reported receiving no such applications from other top party figures.

The findings come as Awami League leaders continue to announce plans to return to Bangladesh in December, although they have not disclosed how many of them need fresh travel documents or have valid passports.

Hasina, who has been living in India since her removal from power in August 2024, has sought a new Bangladeshi passport and national identity card through London-based law firm Matrix Chambers, Reuters reported on November 9.

Her previous passport has been revoked.

No applications from other senior leaders

The inquiries by Waadaa found no reported applications for new passports, travel permits or other travel documents from senior Awami League figures at the five diplomatic missions contacted (names of the missions are not being disclosed here).

Awami League Joint General Secretary AFM Bahauddin Nasim said party leaders and activists from different countries were preparing to return to Bangladesh together in December.

"We want to return in accordance with the law and within the legal framework," Nasim told Waadaa.

"Awami League leaders and activists from different parts of the world, along with human rights activists and lawyers from various countries, are coming to New Delhi and Kolkata in India."

"We will all return to Bangladesh together in December, following the law."

Asked whether party leaders had applied for passports or visas, and how many applications had been submitted, Nasim did not provide a number.

"I cannot give you the number at this moment," he said. "But I can say that we will return to Bangladesh in accordance with the law."

Aminul Islam Amin, the party's deputy public affairs secretary, said senior leaders already had the documents needed to travel.

"We have passports. We will return," he said without clarifying which country’s passports they are possessing.

Asked how the party intended to organise the return, Amin declined to provide details.

"That is the next question," he said. "First, let the government answer the question arising from its own claim that it wants to put Bangabandhu's daughter on trial. Once they answer that, we will explain the rest."

An earlier attempt by a senior Awami League leader to obtain travel documents was unsuccessful.

In 2025, former Education Minister Muhibul Hassan Chowdhury Noufel sought travel papers through the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi, but his request was not processed.

No comparable new applications from other senior party leaders were reported by the diplomatic missions contacted for this story.

'It is a letter, but it is an application'

Former State Minister for Information Mohammad A Arafat defended Hasina's approach when Waadaa asked whether the letter sent by her British lawyers constituted a formal passport application.

"It is a letter, but it is an application," Arafat said.

"This is the first step. It is part of a process, isn't it? The intention has been expressed: she wants a passport, a travel document or a travel pass."

Arafat said the letter followed Hasina's public declaration that she wanted to return to Bangladesh and face legal proceedings.

"Her real intention has already been made clear. She wants to return to Bangladesh and face the courts. That intention has been expressed."

He said her revoked passport made a new travel document necessary.

"Her passport is no longer valid because it has been revoked. So she would need a travel document, right?"

Asked about the proposed return, Arafat did not provide details of any applications by other senior Awami League leaders. He instead urged the government to facilitate Hasina's return.

"If you genuinely want Sheikh Hasina to return, why create so many obstacles?" he said.

"Issue her a passport, a travel permit or, if necessary, a one-way travel pass so that she cannot travel anywhere else and must come directly to Bangladesh."

"Just issue it. That would settle the matter."

'Issue the travel pass first. Then we will see'

Arafat rejected claims by Hasina's political opponents that her announcement of a December return was intended to boost morale among Awami League supporters rather than signal an actual plan to travel.

"Put yourself in Sheikh Hasina's shoes," he said.

"Suppose you announce that you will return in December. Why would you make such an announcement if it were only a bluff intended to energise party leaders and activists?"

He argued that failing to return after announcing a specific deadline would undermine party morale.

"So would you boost their morale for just four months and then destroy it completely by failing to return?"

"Does anyone do that?"

Arafat said the government should issue Hasina a travel pass before questioning her intention.

"If they have the courage, let them issue it first," he said.

"Then they can say, 'We issued your travel pass, but you are still not coming. You have been making empty claims.'"

"Issue the travel pass first. Then we will see whether it is a bluff."

He also dismissed comparisons between Hasina's announcement and former Awami League general secretary Abdul Jalil's widely discussed "trump card" declaration.

"A trump card is not something you announce. It is something you play," he said, adding that "Announcing it was the wrong idea."

Arafat said Hasina had made her decision after consultations. "Sheikh Hasina, on the other hand, held discussions, considered the matter carefully and reached a decision."

"Only after becoming certain that she would return did she officially announce her intention."

Government cites extradition treaty

The government has said Hasina should be returned through the extradition treaty between Bangladesh and India, citing the death sentence handed down against her by a Bangladeshi court.

Arafat disputed the applicability of the treaty.

"They are basically trying to hide behind the extradition treaty," he said. "For several reasons, the extradition treaty does not apply to Sheikh Hasina."

He argued that any extradition would require agreement from India.

"When you invoke an extradition treaty with that country, it is not enough to consider how the Bangladesh government interprets the matter. The government of the other country must also agree."

"India will never extradite her. And it is not just India. No other country in the world would do so."

Deputy public affairs secretary Amin also questioned why the government would refuse travel documents if it intended to bring Hasina back to face the courts.

"Whether you invoke the extradition treaty or pursue some other arrangement, if you want to bring her to justice, she must return to Bangladesh," he said.

"Normally, people flee a country out of fear of prosecution. Here, she is saying she wants to come back.

 “Are they going to hang Sheikh Hasina virtually,?" 

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