In a dilemma: On Sheikh Hasina and India-Bangladesh ties

Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina now in exile in India, has set off speculation about her imminent return to Dhaka by submitting an application for a new Bangladeshi passport and national identity card this week. The application, made through the Bangladesh High Commission in Delhi, was dismissed by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s Foreign Affairs Adviser Humayun Kabir, who said that the government in Dhaka would not grant a passport to a “terrorist”, and would seek her return via the extradition agreement as a “prisoner transfer process” with India. Ms. Hasina has already announced that she plans to return to Bangladesh in December this year, as she did after her previous stay in India in exile from 1975-1981, after the brutal assassination of her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and nearly every other member of her family. However, the situation is considerably different now. This time, Ms. Hasina came to India in 2024 fleeing mobs of protestors that overthrew her government, and has since been convicted by a tribunal for ordering a crackdown on thousands of students, and sentenced to death. In interviews, including to The Hindu, Ms. Hasina says she hopes to return to Bangladesh to argue her case and rebuild her party, the Awami League, but that is hardly likely, given the anger against her amongst the polity, and bipartisan consensus to ban the Awami League from politics. Despite the harsh rhetoric it employs against her, the BNP government is unlikely to wish for her return, as it would have to begin execution proceedings against the 79-year-old former Prime Minister, with international opposition to such a move expected to be voluble. Not doing so would only strengthen its opposition party, the Jamaat-e-Islami, that has accused the Rahman government of soft-peddling the issue. The government must also worry about possible protests and violence within the country in the event Ms. Hasina returns. The situation puts the Modi government in a spot. Ever since Ms. Hasina announced plans to return, during a virtual press conference held in Delhi on August 5 this year, Delhi-Dhaka ties have been on a downslide. The government’s decision not to prevent Ms. Hasina from addressing the press, where she used the opportunity to soundly criticise PM Rahman, meant the abrupt cancellation of the Bangladesh PM’s visit. Next month, the Indo-Bangladesh Ganga Water treaty is set to expire, and talks on its extension have also become a casualty. Ms. Hasina has been an honoured guest in India, and the government cannot physically restrain her from taking the flight to Dhaka or travelling to the land border at Petrapole to cross over. Nor can it wash its hands of her situation once she crosses over. New Delhi must redouble its diplomatic efforts on improving bilateral ties while also ensuring Ms. Hasina’s welfare. Published - November 13, 2026 01:54 am IST