For the past few days, leaders of Bangladesh's anti-discrimination student movement have been issuing statements targeting India. Even threats have been made to separate the northeastern states from India. In this atmosphere, India closed its visa application centre in Dhaka on Wednesday. The 'Indian Visa Application Centre' stated in a release that this decision was made for security reasons.
The Indian Visa Application Centre located at Jamuna Future Park in Dhaka was closed from 2 PM on Wednesday. No information has been provided about how long it will remain closed for now. The statement only mentioned that applicants who had booked Wednesday slots would be informed of new dates.
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The incident began on Monday. Nahid Islam, chief of Bangladesh's National Citizens Party (NCP), said in a threatening tone, "If India thinks they will continue to interfere politically and manipulate elections in Bangladesh as before, then their thinking is wrong." He also warned that India's independence and sovereignty depend on Bangladesh. His associate, Hasnat Abdullah, escalated further, saying, "If necessary, we will separate the Seven Sisters."
Following this, the Indian Foreign Ministry summoned Bangladesh's acting High Commissioner M Riaz Hamidullah to New Delhi that day. He was informed that the central government is concerned about the security of the Indian embassy in Dhaka. Coincidentally, just a few hours later, the announcement to close the visa application centre came forward.
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Bangladesh's interim government has not yet issued any official statement on this matter. However, some diplomatic analysts consider the decision to close the visa application centre immediately after summoning Bangladesh's acting High Commissioner to be quite significant. It should be noted that general elections are scheduled in Bangladesh on February 12. A referendum on the July Charter is also being organised on that day. Some diplomatic analysts fear that unrest may escalate in this atmosphere.
