Bangladesh to revoke Sheikh Hasina’s diplomatic passport, BNP asks India to extradite former premier

The Muhammad Yunus-led interim government of Bangladesh may soon revoke diplomatic passports held by ousted leader Sheikh Hasina, her Cabinet ministers, and members of parliament (MPs). A senior official told the Hindustan Times on Thursday that the Bangladesh government has initiated the process of revoking all diplomatic passports, including those of Hasina, her ministers and MPs.

The senior home ministry official told HT, "The move will also apply to the diplomatic passports of officials who were sent into mandatory retirement or whose contracts were terminated."

A formal notification regarding this is yet to be released. “The written instruction may be sent to the department today [Thursday],” the official said.

The decision to revoke the diplomatic passports, commonly known as ‘red passports’, was taken “as they [these officials] are no longer in their positions”, the official was quoted as saying.

The official, however, said the home ministry had only issued verbal instructions on this matter to the Department of Immigration and Passports, though no formal notification has been given as yet.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh Nationalist Party's Secretary-General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Tuesday asked India to extradite deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina to face trial as he accused her of plotting to thwart the country's student-led "revolution".

Long-time premier Sheikh Hasina quit as prime minister on August 5 and fled to India after weeks of deadly student-led protests, ending her 15-year rule. The Hasina-led government was replaced by an interim government, and 84-year-old Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus was named its chief adviser.

More than 40 cases have been filed against her since her ouster. In these complaints, Hasina has been accused of murder and committing crimes against humanity and genocide during the recent anti-quota protests in the country. They also include the charge of attacking a procession in Sylhet city, which left several people shot and injured during the recent mass protests on August 4.