DHAKA, Dec 21: India on Sunday suspended visa operations at its mission in Bangladeshi port city of Chattogram until further notice, according to media reports.
The move comes in the wake of a fresh wave of unrest witnessed in the country following the death of prominent youth leader Sharif Osman Hadi.
His death triggered attacks and vandalism across Bangladesh, including stone-hurling at the Assistant Indian High Commissioner’s residence in Chattogram on Thursday.
Hadi, a prominent leader of the student-led protests last year that led to the ouster of the prime minister Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government, was a candidate for the scheduled February 12 general elections.
He was shot in the head on December 12 by masked gunmen at an election campaign in central Dhaka’s Bijoynagar area and died while undergoing treatment in Singapore on December 18.
“Due to the recent security incident at Assistant High Commission of India (AHCI) Chittagong, Indian visa operations at IVAC Chittagong (Chattogram) will remain suspended from 21/12/2025 until further notice,” the Indian Visa Application Centre (IVAC) said in a brief statement.
The announcement for reopening the visa centre will be made after reviewing the situation, the statement added. The decision came into effect on Sunday.
There are five IVAC facilities across Bangladesh at Dhaka, Khulna, Rajshahi, Chattogram and Sylhet. An IVAC official told PTI that the other four offices have remained operational as of Sunday.
India on Thursday resumed operations at its visa application centre in Dhaka, a day after closing it over escalated security concerns, but closed for a brief period two other identical facilities in Rajshahi and Khulna as anti-India protestors tried to march towards the Indian missions there.
On Saturday, security was strengthened at the Indian Assistant High Commission office and the visa application centre in Bangladesh’s Sylhet city.
The enhanced security measures were put in place to ensure that “no third party can exploit the situation,” Additional Deputy Commissioner (Media) of the Sylhet Metropolitan Police Saiful Islam was quoted as saying by The Dhaka Tribune newspaper on Saturday.
Hadi, 32, was laid to rest on Saturday amid extra-tight security beside the grave of National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam near the Dhaka University mosque.
Tens of thousands of people attended the funeral prayers, and ahead of the ritual, chanted anti-India slogans like “Delhi or Dhaka – Dhaka, Dhaka” and “brother Hadi’s blood will not be allowed to go in vain.”
Earlier on December 17, the MEA summoned Bangladesh envoy Riaz Hamidullah and conveyed its strong concern over certain extremist elements announcing plans to create a security situation around the Indian mission in Dhaka. “We expect the interim government to ensure the safety of Missions and Posts in Bangladesh in keeping with its diplomatic obligations,” it said.
The envoy was apprised of India’s strong concerns about the deteriorating security in Bangladesh, it added.
BNP leader’s 7-year-old daughter burnt to death
Meanwhile the seven-year-old daughter of BNP leader Belal Hossain’s was burnt to death on Saturday while he and his two other daughters received burn injuries.
Hossain’s daughter, Ayesha Akter, was burnt to death while his other daughters, Salma Akter and Samia Akter have suffered critical burn injuries. Belal himself is getting treated at Lakshmipur Sadar Hospital, while his daughters have been sent to Dhaka for advanced care.
Dhaka University’s Bangabandhu Hall renamed Osman Hadi Hall
The Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Hall at the Dhaka University has been renamed in memory of Sharif Osman Hadi, a prominent youth leader who was part of the July Uprising that toppled Sheikh Hasina’s government in Bangladesh last year.
The hall union, a students’ body, erased the nameplate at the main gate and replaced it with a new one, ‘Shaheed Sharif Osman Hadi Hall’ on Saturday, the Dhaka Tribune said.
Also, several students are painting over the graffiti mural of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman that was on the hall’s main building.
Musaddiq Ibn Ali Mohammad, Dhaka University Central Students’ Union’s secretary for cultural affairs, announced that the nameplate would be removed using a crane at 9:30 pm on Saturday, the report said.
On-site observation showed that work to erase the hall’s name began around 9:45 pm. Later, at 11:15 pm, work began to paint over the graffiti. (PTI)
