NEW DELHI: India and Bangladesh on Tuesday brought in each other’s envoys to lodge protests over recent incidents that have impacted bilateral relations, even as security personnel prevented protesters from marching towards the Bangladeshi mission in New Delhi.
Indian high commissioner Pranay Verma was summoned to the foreign ministry in Dhaka by foreign secretary Asad Alam Siam in the morning for a protest against “regrettable incidents” outside the Bangladesh high commission in New Delhi and the vandalisation of a visa centre in Siliguri.
Bangladesh high commissioner Riaz Hamidullah was “called in” by B Shyam, the joint secretary who heads the Bangladesh-Myanmar division of the external affairs ministry, late in the evening and informed of the need for a proper investigation into the recent killing of Bangladeshi radical student leader Sharif Osman Hadi, people familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity.
“Instead of jumping the gun and blaming India for Hadi’s death, there should be a thorough investigation to identify the perpetrators,” one of the people cited above said. The people said unsubstantiated allegations about an Indian hand in Hadi’s killing had triggered anti-India protests in Bangladesh, such as the attempt by a mob to storm the Indian assistant high commission in Chittagong last week.
The developments reflect fresh tensions between the two sides, further straining bilateral ties already at an all-time low. This was the second time in 10 days that Verma was summoned to the foreign ministry in Dhaka to lodge a protest, while Hamidullah had also been summoned to the external affairs ministry last week for a protest over the deteriorating security situation in Bangladesh.
A readout issued in Dhaka said the foreign ministry conveyed its “grave concern” to Verma over “regrettable incidents outside the perimeter of the Bangladesh high commission and residence in New Delhi” on December 20, and acts of vandalism at the Bangladesh visa centre in Siliguri on December 22 by “extremist elements”.
“Bangladesh also expressed deep concern over violent protests staged outside the premises of the different diplomatic missions of Bangladesh in India,” the readout said.
There was no official word from the external affairs ministry on Tuesday’s developments.
The people cited above said there could be no equivalence between the violent protest outside India’s assistant high commission in Chittagong on December 18 and the protests outside Bangladesh’s diplomatic facilities in India.
“In New Delhi, the protesters were stopped more than 500 metres away from the Bangladeshi mission [on Tuesday] and there was heightened security on the road leading to the mission,” a second person said. “In the case of Chittagong, the protesters came right up to the Indian mission and petrol bombs and stones were thrown by them.”
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal announced over the weekend that their members would protest outside the Bangladeshi mission on Tuesday over the recent lynching of a Hindu man named Dipu Chandra Das in Mymensingh. Das, a garment factory worker, was beaten to death, and his body was tied to a tree and burnt.
A large police contingent was posted near the Bangladeshi mission on Tuesday morning, and the protesters were stopped with barricades and later put into buses and taken away from the spot. No untoward incidents were reported during the protest.
Following a protest outside the Bangladesh high commission over Das’s killing late on Saturday night, India dismissed reports of a security breach at the mission as “misleading propaganda” and expressed concern at the “horrendous killing” of the Hindu man and called for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.
Bangladesh’s foreign ministry contested India’s description of the incident outside its mission in New Delhi and said “an isolated attack” on a Bangladeshi Hindu man should not be depicted as an attack on minorities.
Protests were organised near India’s missions in Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna and Rajshahi last week after some of Bangladesh’s student leaders and politicians claimed Hadi’s killers had sneaked into India. However, Bangladesh Police announced over the weekend that the whereabouts of the assailants aren’t known.
Bangladesh has suspended visa services at its missions in New Delhi and Agartala and at the visa centre in Siliguri, whereas India has suspended visa services only at the mission in Chittagong.
Since the collapse of former premier Sheikh Hasina’s government and the formation of the caretaker administration led by Muhammad Yunus in August 2024, the two sides have repeatedly clashed on a number of issues, with New Delhi accusing Dhaka of failing to prevent attacks on the country’s minorities.
Meanwhile, Yunus expressed “profound sorrow” over the killing of Das and extended condolences to his family on Tuesday. Bangladesh’s de facto education minister CR Abrar visited Das’s family in Mymensingh to convey the government’s sympathy and assurance of support, an official statement said.
Abrar described the killing as a “heinous criminal act with no justification” and said allegations, rumours or differences of belief can never excuse violence. He assured Das’s family that the authorities would ensure justice through due process.
Bangladesh’s law enforcement agencies have arrested 12 people in connection with Das’s lynching and the interim Government has “directed that the case be pursued fully and without exception”.