Yunus-led Bangladesh govt recalls 2 senior diplomats from India amid rising tensions between nations

Yunus’s government recalled Bangladesh’s acting Deputy High Commissioner in Kolkata, Shikdar Mohammad Ashraful Rahman, and Assistant High Commissioner in Agartala, Arif Mohammad, and asked them to work from Dhaka till further instructions.

New Delhi: Two senior diplomats of Bangladesh in India hurriedly returned to Dhaka on Thursday amid strains in the relations between New Delhi and the interim government led by economist Muhammad Yunus in the neighbouring country.

As the reports about atrocities on the minority communities in Bangladesh triggered protests in India and prompted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in New Delhi to convey its concerns to Dhaka, Muhammad Yunus’s office invited 28 European diplomats for a meeting with him on December 9. While some of the diplomats, who were invited for the meeting with the chief advisor – equivalent to the prime minister – of the interim government, are based in Dhaka, the others will fly from New Delhi. The move appears to be an image makeover attempt by the interim government, which blamed the media in India for exaggerating reports about the atrocities of the Hindus and other minority communities in Bangladesh, particularly after the collapse of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s regime on August 5.

Yunus’s government recalled Bangladesh’s acting Deputy High Commissioner in Kolkata, Shikdar Mohammad Ashraful Rahman, and Assistant High Commissioner in Agartala, Arif Mohammad, and asked them to work from Dhaka till further instruction, according to the diplomatic sources in New Delhi.

The move appears to be a reaction to the recent protests by political parties and other organisations in front of Bangladesh’s Deputy High Commission in Kolkata as well as the Assistant High Commission in Agartala. The protesters in Agartala breached security and vandalized the premises of the consular mission of Bangladesh, triggering strong protests from Dhaka and prompting New Delhi to express regret. The security of the High Commission of Bangladesh in New Delhi was enhanced after the incident in Agartala, where some protesters were arrested, and some police officers were suspended in the aftermath of the breach at the mission of the neighbouring country.

To protest against the incident, Yunus’s interim regime, however, got New Delhi’s envoy to Dhaka, Pranay Kumar Verma, summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the government of Bangladesh on Tuesday.

Dhaka's envoy to New Delhi Md Mustafizur Rahman is likely to retire by the end of this month.

“Now, however, we are hearing new reports of attacks and atrocities (on the minority community). Foreign and local media are reporting this, and I am investigating the situation. After looking into it, it seems the situation is not as severe as it’s being portrayed. The reports are inconsistent, and this is not acceptable,” Yunus was quoted by Dhaka Tribune news portal saying at a meeting with the religious leaders.

After Hasina slammed Yunus in a virtual address delivered at an event in New York, the interim government got Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal to impose a ban on publishing the deposed prime minister’s speeches. Yunus’s office said that when the tribunal would pronounce its verdict in the cases lodged against her and other Awami League leaders, Dhaka would ask New Delhi to send back Sheikh Hasina to Bangladesh.