Bangladesh Crisis: India Brings Back Families Of Diplomats As Violence Escalates In Dhaka
Indian High Commission in Dhaka along with Assistant High Commissions in Chittagong, Rajshahi, Khulna and Sylhet remain functional while families and non-essential staff have been brought back.
Bangladesh Crisis: India on Wednesday brought back the non-essential staff and families of diplomats from the Indian High Commission in Dhaka on a voluntary basis through an Air India flight. However, all diplomats continue to remain in the High Commission and the mission remains functional, sources told ABP LIVE.
According to the sources, India continues to operate all its Assistant High Commissions in Chittagong, Rajshahi, Khulna and Sylhet.
The move to bring back non-essential staff comes after the violence in Bangladesh escalated to extreme levels, with the protests by students over government job quotas deteriorating into rioting and vandalism. In the last 48 hours, ever since Sheikh Hasina resigned from the post of Prime Minister of Bangladesh and fled to India, protests have flared up across Bangladesh, taking on communal colour too.
Since Tuesday, several Hindu temples have been vandalised, Hindu shops attacked, and houses of prominent Hindu personalities living in Bangladesh burnt down. With the toppling of the Awami League government, the country has come under the control of Bangladesh Army, which has so far been unable to control the raging mobs.
The mobs have not spared low-ranking officials of the Awami League government either. As many as 29 bodies of Awami League leaders and their family members have been discovered in a dismembered state across various cities.
On Tuesday, Bangladesh’s former foreign minister Hasan Mahmud, a close confidant of Hasina for several decades, was detained at the Dhaka airport and handed over to the Army. He was also trying to come to India.
Around 19,000 Indian nationals are currently present in Bangladesh, out of which about 9,000 are students.
On Tuesday, in an address to both houses of Parliament, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said India is “monitoring” the condition of the Hindu minority in Bangladesh.
“The bulk of the students have already returned to India in the month of July on the advice of the High Commission. In terms of our diplomatic presence, in addition to the High Commission in Dhaka, we have Assistant High Commissions in Chittagong, Rajshahi, Khulna and Sylhet,” he added. “It is our expectation that the host government will provide the required security protection for these establishments. We look forward to their normal functioning once the situation stabilises.”
After an all-party meeting on the crisis in Bangladesh, he said, “There are reports of initiatives by various groups and organisations to ensure their protection and well-being. We welcome that, but will naturally remain deeply concerned till law and order is visibly restored. Our border guarding forces have also been instructed to be exceptionally alert in view of this complex situation.”
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