‘A few advisers surrender diplomatic passports to leave country’

Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain said on Sunday that several advisers of the interim government have surrendered their diplomatic passports and are preparing to leave the country weeks before the end of their tenure.
“Some advisers have surrendered their diplomatic passports as they want to get new passports, taking advantage of the time in hand and arranging visas to travel abroad,” he said, responding to queries from reporters at the closing session of an election-focused training workshop in the capital.
The two-day workshop was organised for members of the Diplomatic Correspondents Association, Bangladesh (DCAB) in association with MRDI ahead of the 13th parliamentary election.
The adviser clarified that neither he nor his wife had surrendered their passports yet. “We still hold our diplomatic passports. Surrendering the passport of a foreign adviser before the end of tenure will be an unprecedented incident,” he added.
Since the interim government took charge on 8 August, three days after the ouster of the Awami League government in the face of a mass upsurge, there have been many discussions about its advisers.

Some advisers were accused of corruption, irregularities, inactive role and controversial remarks, while questions were raised about the foreign citizenship of some of the advisers of the government.
Initially, some 17 advisers took the oath in the advisory council, led by Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus. In the later months, seven new advisers and eight special assistants joined the government in different phases.
One of the advisers, AF Hassan Ariff, died on 20 December 2024, while three advisers – Nahid Islam, Mahfuj Alam and Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain – resigned from their posts.
Replying to a question about the government’s stance about a political party’s leaders and activists advising people to vote “No” or not to go to polling stations from India, Touhid Hossain expressed optimism, saying, “Some violence and irregularities occur in every election. This has happened in all past elections in Bangladesh. However, we hope that this election will reflect the aspirations of the general public. In the past, more than 4 crore people were unable to vote.”
He added, “In the 1991 election, the voter turnout was 55%. The government is optimistic that this time the turnout will exceed 55%.”
The adviser also mentioned that the government has informed foreign observers of measures taken regarding election-time violence.
He further said, “A significant part of society is responsible for foreign diplomats commenting on Bangladesh’s internal matters. A large number of Bangladeshis want outsiders to speak on their internal issues.”
Touhid Hossain said, “In every country, it has become a tradition for diplomats to speak on certain matters. As part of this, foreign diplomats have spoken here because a large part of society wants them to do so. We cannot always blame them for it.”
Asked whether the chief adviser will be travelling to Japan after the election, he said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has no knowledge of the matter. “The ministry has not been informed of the chief adviser’s Japan trip.”
Responding to a question about Bangladesh’s boycott of the T20 World Cup for not relocating the matches from India despite Pakistan playing it, the foreign affairs adviser said, “I am not concerned about Pakistan’s decision to play cricket. That is their own decision.”

Responding to another question, he said, “During the election period, several Bangladeshi ambassadors applied for leave. Their leave has been temporarily denied by the ministry. Permission was not granted for leave at such an important time. This is a normal procedure.”
UNDP Resident Representative Stefan Liller delivered a speech at the event. Other speakers at the closing session included Executive Director of MRDI Hasibur Rahman, DCAB President AKM Moinuddin and General Secretary Abu Hena Imrul Kayes.