Bangladesh’s ousted leader Sheikh Hasina wants a new passport to return to the country next month, more than two years after fleeing to India following a mass uprising that forced her from power.
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that → oust → power
The 79-year-old former prime minister was sentenced to death in absentia last year for crimes against humanity over a deadly crackdown on the student-led protests in 2024, a charge she denies.
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she → sentence → 2024
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She faces the prospect of being hanged upon her return, as the government that succeeded her remains a staunch political opponent.
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that → 4ouste → her
Dhaka has already rejected the passport request and has challenged Hasina to seek extradition from India if she is serious about returning home.
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she → reject → India
“Bangladesh does not give passports to terrorists who kill thousands of people and flee.
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who → give → people
It will work under the current extradition arrangements with India to pursue and get the terrorist Hasina handed over,” State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir told Al Jazeera.
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Kobir → work → Jazeera
On Tuesday, the Bangladeshi prosecutor Md Aminul Islam, who secured the death sentence for Hasina at the Dhaka-based International Crimes Tribunal, said she will be executed if she returns home.
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she → secure → Tribunal
“Sheikh Hasina has no option but to face the execution of the verdict,” Islam told reporters.
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Islam → have → reporters
So, what led Hasina to approach the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi, seeking a new passport and a national identity card since her existing documents have been revoked, and what is her game plan?
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plan → lead → passport
‘She knows what her fate is’
Hasina ruled Bangladesh with an iron fist for nearly 20 years and still enjoys support among a section of its population, while many others want to see her hanged.
Her return could worsen political tensions as Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s government tries to restore stability two years on from the 2024 uprising that led to the killing of more than 1,400 people, according to the United Nations.
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that → know → Nations
But analysts question whether Hasina genuinely intends to return to face the law, or is using the promise to revive her political fortunes from self-imposed exile in India.
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Hasina → question → India
For Zillur Rahman, president of the Centre for Governance Studies, a Dhaka-based think tank, Hasina’s passport request is less about an imminent plan to return and more about keeping herself politically relevant as she tries to retain control of her Awami League party.
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she → base → party
“I think she knows what her fate is.
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fate → think → ?
But what she wants is to keep Awami League leaders and activists politically engaged,” he said, referring to Hasina’s party, which was founded by her father and Bangladesh independence movement leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
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which → want → father
“As far as I understand, she does not want to hand over the party’s leadership to anyone else under any circumstances.
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she → understand → circumstances
I think that is a major problem for her and for the party.
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that → think → party
Otherwise, the party might have tried to find a way to survive.”
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party → try → way
Jon F Danilowicz, a retired United States diplomat who once served as deputy chief of mission at the US embassy in Dhaka, was more categorical.
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who → retire → Dhaka
“There is zero chance that Hasina will return to Bangladesh in December.
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Hasina → be → December
In my view, this has all been a bluff intended to rally her supporters and shift the narrative regarding her increasing irrelevance at home,” he told Al Jazeera.
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he → intend → Jazeera
Faiz Sobhan, senior research director at the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute research centre, also sees Hasina’s promise as an effort to lift the morale of her party, which is now banned, with many of its leaders in jail or in exile.
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which → see → exile
“The announcement keeps Sheikh Hasina politically relevant and lets her gauge the mood at home,” he said.
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he → keep → home
“An actual return seems inconceivable, since it would mean facing the gallows or spending the rest of her life behind bars.”
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it → seem → bars
Despite analysts casting doubt on the prospect of Hasina’s return, her announcement appears to have energised some Awami League leaders and supporters.
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announcement → cast → leaders
“Our leader will return.
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leader → return → ?
They have tried to stop her before, but they could not stop her.
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they → try → her
They are conspiring against her again, but she will overcome these conspiracies and return,” an organising secretary of the party’s central executive committee told Al Jazeera, speaking on condition of anonymity from exile in India.
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secretary → conspire → India
When asked how Hasina would return and what steps the party was taking to facilitate it, many Awami League leaders and supporters said they had no clear idea about her game plan.
“But she has announced that she will return, and I believe she will come back in December, no matter what,” Arman Rahman, a Dhaka-based Awami League activist and former leader of its student wing, told Al Jazeera.
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Rahman → ask → Jazeera
The India question
Hasina’s future is also tied to India’s calculations.
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future → tie → calculations
New Delhi, her close ally for decades, has sheltered her since she fled Dhaka in August 2024.
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she → shelter → August
But her continued presence has become a point of contention between the two countries.
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presence → continue → countries
Dhaka has repeatedly sought Hasina’s extradition under a bilateral treaty.
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Dhaka → seek → treaty
New Delhi says it has been examining the requests, with India’s foreign ministry in April saying it wants to “engage constructively with the new government and further strengthen bilateral ties”.
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it → say → ties
Meanwhile, both countries have signalled an interest in repairing strained ties.
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countries → signal → ties
Sreeradha Datta, professor of international affairs at O P Jindal Global University near New Delhi, told Al Jazeera that India regards Hasina as a longstanding friend, even as it tries to separate her presence in the country from its diplomatic engagement with Dhaka.
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it → tell → Dhaka
[New] Delhi looks at her as a friend whom it will always support.
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it → look → whom
That is our official position,” she said.
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she → say → ?
Former US diplomat Danilowicz believes New Delhi is increasingly aware of the diplomatic cost of continuing to host Hasina, but is “unlikely to facilitate” her return to Bangladesh.
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Delhi → believe → Bangladesh
“While there may be some in India who still believe that Hasina and her party provide them leverage, by now the [Narendra] Modi government must understand the damage that her continued presence in New Delhi is doing to efforts to normalise relations with Bangladesh,” he said.
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he → believe → Bangladesh
“I am certain the Modi government would love to see the Hasina problem go away, including by having her find a third country to reside.”
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her → love → country
…and 19 more, not listed.
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