Dhaka-Delhi ties strain further amid rising tensions

The already uneven relations between Bangladesh and India have plunged to a new low, further strained by a series of turbulent and destabilising incidents on Monday.

Members of several Hindutva organisations staged different programmes across India, protesting killing of a Hindu youth in Mymensingh. 

They alleged persecution of the Hindu community in Bangladesh, and vandalised the Bangladesh Visa Centre in Shiliguri. They also made bound the authorities to close it. 

The Bangladesh High Commission in Delhi suspended all consular services and visa issuance temporarily due to unavoidable circumstances on the day.

The protesters in Shiliguri included members of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), Hindu Jagaran Manch, and the Siliguri Metropolitan unit.

A company called DU Digital had been entrusted with operating the Bangladesh visa center in Siliguri.

According to diplomatic sources, around 300 members of the VHP, Hindu Jagaran Manch, and the Siliguri Metropolitan unit gathered at Bagha Jatin Park in Siliguri to protest alleged atrocities against the Hindu community in Bangladesh. 

They then marched to the Bangladesh visa office, where they staged a demonstration.

During the protest, participants demanded an end to the persecution of minority Hindus in Bangladesh, justice for the murder of Dipu Das, and punishment for those responsible. A five-member delegation from the protesters later entered the visa office, spoke with the authorities, and instructed them to keep the office closed as a form of protest.

During the protest, a member of the delegation called a DU Digital official and said, “We have only one request, do not unlock this office. Inform your concerned officials that the office will remain closed. We will not allow business here if Hindus are persecuted in Bangladesh. Remove all banners or boards related to Bangladesh visas today.”

An official of the Bangladesh High Commission in Kolkata, seeking anonymity, said DU Digital had already closed the Bangladesh visa center before 3pm due to the security situation. A decision on reopening the office would be made after assessing the situation.

Bangladesh High Commission in Delhi temporarily suspends visa services

The Bangladesh High Commission in Delhi has suspended all consular services and visa issuance temporarily due to unavoidable circumstances. Services at the Bangladesh High Commission in Delhi would remain halted until further notice, multiple diplomatic sources in Dhaka and Delhi confirmed to the Daily Sun.

The decision came after a group of people under the banner of “Akhand Hindu Rashtra Sena” staged a protest in front of the Bangladesh High Commission in Delhi on Saturday night.

They stayed there for about 20 minutes, chanting slogans against Bangladesh. They also threatened Bangladesh’s High Commissioner to India M Riaz Hamidullah.

Addressing a briefing on Sunday, Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain said protests outside the Bangladesh High Commission left the High Commissioner and his family feeling threatened.

“They claim it was a group of 20–25 people. How could a small group of 25 or 30 Hindu extremists enter such a sensitive area? Were they allowed to? Normally, they should not have been able to get in. They did not simply protest against the killing of a Hindu citizen; they said many other things, which we are aware of,” he said, adding that the Bangladesh mission in Delhi was located in a highly secure diplomatic zone.

The Foreign Affairs Adviser said that although there was no concrete evidence, there were reports of threats against the High Commissioner. He questioned the motive behind such actions and noted that the High Commissioner’s family in Delhi has felt threatened and insecure since the incident.

Since the ouster of the more than 15-year-long Awami League regime on 5 August last year amid an unprecedented student-led mass uprising, Bangladesh-India relations have been on a roller-coaster ride.

Both countries issued statements and counter-statements regarding the “protest programme” in front of the Bangladesh High Commission in Delhi.

On 14 December, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned India’s High Commissioner to Dhaka, Pranay Verma, and urged that those who attacked Sharif Osman Hadi, convener of Inqilab Moncho, should be arrested and sent back if they entered India.

He was also informed of the interim government’s concerns over the continued provocative statements being made by ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who had taken refuge in Delhi.

Three days later, on 17 December, India summoned Bangladesh High Commissioner in New Delhi, M Riaz Hamidullah, to convey its “deep concern over the deteriorating security situation” in Bangladesh.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs, in a statement on the day, said it had drawn the Bangladesh High Commissioner’s attention to the activities of “some extremist groups” that, it claimed, had announced plans to create security concerns around the Indian High Commission in Dhaka.

Hindutva protesters stage demos across India

Extremist Hindu organisations took to the streets in different parts of India, accusing Bangladesh government for alleged failure in protecting Hindus.

BJP leader and Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal Suvendu Adhikari led the protest along with his party leaders and activists.

Claiming that the brutal killing of Dipu Das has angered the Hindu community all around the world, he announced one hour border blockade programme for tomorrow and another demonstration outside Bangladesh High Commission on Friday.

In Delhi State Hajj Committee protested the killing, while Bishva Hindu Parishad President Alok Kumar said in Mumbai that the deceased Hindu youth was not involved with any blasphemous activities.