Indian visa centres to be closed ‘indefinitely’ in Bangladesh amid volatile situation, says report

Indian visa application centres in Bangladesh will close indefinitely due to the volatile situation in the neighbouring country, India Today reported.

Applicants were informed that they will be notified of the next date through SMS and that their passports should be collected the next working day, the report added.

"All Indian visa application centres will remain closed till further notice, due to the unstable situation. The next application date will be informed through SMS and it is requested to pick up the passport on the next working day," the notice said, as per the report.

The student protests in Bangladesh, which began with demands for removal of quota for independence fighters families in government jobs, spun into anti-government demonstrations over the past months. It all came to a head last Sunday (August 4), with now ex-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigning from the post and fleeing to India.

Diplomats remain in High Commission; families, non-essential staff evacuated

On August 7. the Indian High Commission in Bangladesh evacuated non-essential staff and families from Dhaka on a voluntary basis, through commercial flight, sources from the embassy said. They added that all diplomats will remain in the High Commission, as it continues to be functional.

Besides the High Commission or embassy in the capital Dhaka, India has assistant high commissions or consulates in Chittagong, Rajshahi, Khulna and Sylhet.

India in touch with authorities

On August 6, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar informed the Parliament that India has been "in regular touch with authorities in Dhaka" and the Indian community in Bangladesh.

“As violence continued throughout July [in Bangladesh], we repeatedly counselled restrain and urged the situation be diffused through dialogue. Similar urgings were made to various political forces with whom we were in touch,” Jaishankar said.

He also assured that India expected Bangladesh to provide the required security protection for the assisstant consulates in Chittagong, Rajshahi, Khulna and Sylhet.

Bangladesh has been witnessing nationwide protests since June over a special job quota bill that allowed reservations for families of veterans who fought the 1971 liberation war. The protests turned violent last month.

Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Peace Prize winner renowned for his work with impoverished communities and a vocal critic of the deposed Sheikh Hasina, had been appointed to lead Bangladesh's interim government.