Bangladesh suspends visa services in three Indian cities, cites ‘unforeseen circumstances’

The Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi on Monday suspended visa services indefinitely after a small group of protesters gathered near the mission, people familiar with the matter said, amid renewed strains in bilateral relations.

Visa services were also suspended at Bangladesh’s assistant high commission in Agartala, Tripura, on Sunday following a protest by the Tipra Motha Party and other groups outside the mission. In addition, visa services operated by a private agency on Bangladesh’s behalf in Siliguri, West Bengal, were halted after an incident of vandalism, the people said, requesting anonymity.

Notices issued by the missions in New Delhi and Agartala stated that all consular and visa services had been suspended until further notice due to “unavoidable circumstances”. Officials said staff at the Agartala mission remain in place.

The suspensions come amid unrest and widespread protests in Bangladesh following the death of radical student leader Sharif Osman Hadi last week. Hadi, a vocal critic of India, died in Singapore after being shot by gunmen in Dhaka. Demonstrations sparked by his death have taken on anti-India overtones.

On December 18, a large mob attempted to storm India’s assistant high commission in Chittagong, prompting police to use tear gas and batons to disperse protesters. Indian visa services in Chittagong were subsequently suspended. Protests were also held near Indian missions in Dhaka, Khulna and Rajshahi.

For several days, some Bangladeshi student leaders and politicians alleged that Hadi’s attackers had fled to India and demanded their extradition. However, Bangladesh Police said on Sunday that the whereabouts of the assailants remain unknown.

On Sunday, India rejected reports of a security breach at the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi as “misleading propaganda” and expressed concern over the lynching of a Hindu man, Dipu Chandra Das, during the recent unrest. Das was allegedly killed by a mob after being accused of blasphemy.

India’s external affairs ministry said that 20 to 25 youths gathered outside the Bangladesh mission late on Saturday to protest Das’s killing and were later dispersed by police.

Bangladesh’s de facto foreign minister Touhid Hossain disputed India’s account, claiming there had been a serious security lapse at the New Delhi mission. Bangladesh’s foreign ministry also rejected India’s portrayal of Das’s lynching as an attack on minorities.

India-Bangladesh relations have remained tense since the collapse of the Sheikh Hasina government following student-led protests and the subsequent installation of a caretaker administration headed by Muhammad Yunus. The unrest linked to Hadi’s death has further aggravated bilateral tensions.