India has also closed temporarily two visa application centres in Bangladesh due to protest and security situation fear, the officials confirmed on Thursday. One of the affected centres is Khulna, another one is Rajshahi, according to an official of the High Commission of India in Dhaka.
The authorities reported demonstrations in both cities on Thursday, leading to the shutdowns. The official added that when the security situation worsens, we are forced to close the operations to provide the safety of the staff and applicants. Nevertheless, visa operations at the Dhaka visa application centre have since been restored and that relieves the applicants to a certain extent.
A group of people called July 36 Mancha held a demonstration march in Rajshahi starting around 12:30 pm local time at Bhadra Mor and directed to the Indian Assistant High Commission. On its way to the mission, the procession was stopped by the police who set up barricades about 100 metres outside the office thus stopping the protesters.
Having been halted, the demonstrators arranged a sit-in protest at the barricades and demanded to be allowed to do so. Other protest calls were also reported in Khulna which was also a source of concern about the general security situation in the area.
In these developments, India has also made diplomatic actions. The ministry of External affairs (MEA) called a Bangladesh High Commissioner, Riaz Hamidullah, on Wednesday in order to communicate to him the anger of India over the deteriorating security situation in Bangladesh. In the meeting, the Indian officials had certain concerns regarding reports by extremist elements and threats to the safety of the India mission in Dhaka and other diplomatic posts.
The Indian officials emphasized on having proper security of the diplomatic office and diplomats as required by the international laws. This situation is under close observation and additional judgments on the visa activities will be based on the improvement in the security conditions on the ground.
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