On August 12, a spokesperson for Tulip’s legal advisory firm, Stephenson Harwood, informed the Financial Times, "Tulip has never obtained a Bangladeshi national identity card or voter ID, and she has not held a Bangladeshi passport since childhood."
Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League administration was toppled in a mass uprising on August 5, 2024. In February this year, the EC "locked" the NIDs of ten family members of Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana, including Tulip’s.
First Bangladeshi passport obtained at 19
Information from the Bangladesh Passport Office indicates that a Bangladeshi passport was issued in Tulip’s name in September 2001, when she was 19 years old. The passport was issued by the Bangladesh High Commission in London.
After that passport expired, Tulip applied for her next passport in 2011 at the Agargaon Passport Office in Dhaka, and her second passport was subsequently issued.
According to the passport office database, her nationality is listed as Bangladeshi, and her place of birth is London.
Tulip’s passport lists Major General (Retd.) Tariq Ahmed Siddiq as her emergency contact. He is Tulip’s uncle and a former defense adviser to Sheikh Hasina.
When Tulip’s second passport was issued in 2011, her aunt Sheikh Hasina was the Prime Minister of Bangladesh. This passport expired on January 2, 2016.
No evidence of renunciation of citizenship
In Bangladesh, anyone holding a passport and a national identity card is considered a Bangladeshi citizen. Although Tulip was born in the UK, both of her parents were born in Bangladesh, allowing her to hold both British and Bangladeshi citizenship, as both countries permit dual nationality, the report states.
In some countries, such as the United States, a person must renounce their original citizenship before taking the oath to become a citizen. However, in the UK, taking the oath does not necessitate renouncing one’s former citizenship. According to Bangladeshi law, a person remains a citizen of Bangladesh until they formally renounce their allegiance to the country. Anyone wishing to relinquish Bangladeshi citizenship must apply to the home ministry.
Supreme Court lawyer Shahdeen Malik told Prothom Alo that, under the agreement between the UK and Bangladesh, an individual can hold citizenship in both countries. Legally, there is no issue with this. "However, since she is denying this, it seems that Tulip Siddiq has relied on a false claim."
