New Delhi: Uncommon diplomatic strikes in Dhaka have raised questions on what is predicted to occur in Bangladesh on December 25, a date that has brought about heightened warning from Western missions.
Germany’s embassy in Bangladesh has introduced that it’s going to stay closed on December 24 and 25. On the similar time, the US Embassy in Dhaka has issued an advisory for December 25, sensing potential disruptions and urging warning.
Whereas the German mission has not defined the explanation behind its determination to close operations for 2 days, the American embassy has supplied an in depth clarification.
The developments come days after a number of Western nations, together with america, the UK and members of the European Union, issued condolence statements following the dying of scholar chief Sharif Usman Hadi. Questions are being raised over why Germany and america seem notably alert about December 25 in Bangladesh.
In a put up on X, the German Embassy in Dhaka acknowledged, “The Embassy will likely be closed on 24 and 25 December and can resume operations from December 28.”
The US Embassy, in its advisory, referred to media experiences that the Bangladesh Nationalist Social gathering has deliberate a large gathering in Dhaka to rejoice the return of its appearing chairman, Tarique Rahman.
In keeping with the advisory, the rally is scheduled to start at 11:45 am on December 25 and can stretch from Hazrat Shahjalal Worldwide Airport to Gulshan, overlaying the Purbachal Expressway and different necessary routes.
“Attributable to this, heavy site visitors congestion is predicted,” the advisory mentioned. It urged folks travelling in and round Dhaka to permit additional time and contemplate various routes. The embassy additionally suggested passengers heading to the airport to hold their air tickets and journey paperwork and to be ready to point out them at police checkpoints.
Throughout this era, US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor additionally spoke with Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus. Their dialogue coated latest developments in Bangladesh and the upcoming elections.
Rahman’s Return After 17 Years
Media experiences say BNP’s Performing Chairman Rahman has utilized for a journey move to return to Bangladesh on December 25. He submitted the appliance on the Bangladesh Excessive Fee in London.
In a Fb put up dated December 18, the BNP mentioned, “Tarique will arrive at Hazrat Shahjalal Worldwide Airport at 11:45 am on December 25.”
He’s the eldest son of BNP founder Ziaur Rahman and social gathering chairperson Khaleda Zia. He was arrested in 2007 through the Military-backed caretaker authorities. In 2008, he travelled to the UK for medical therapy and has lived there since.
His spouse, Zubaida Rahman, returned to London on December 20 after travelling to Bangladesh.
Zia has performed a central function in Bangladesh’s politics for greater than 4 many years. After the assassination of her husband, she took cost of the BNP. Ziaur Rahman was serving as Bangladesh’s president when he was killed in 1981.
Khaleda Zia has been a supporter of multi-party democracy in Bangladesh. She grew to become the nation’s first lady prime minister in 1991 after the BNP gained the elections. She returned to energy in 2001 and was in workplace till 2006.
The BNP boycotted the final three elections. Zia supported the motion launched in 2024 towards Sheikh Hasina. The BNP is Bangladesh’s largest political social gathering, and there’s rising hypothesis that it might return to energy in subsequent yr’s elections.
Throughout Hasina’s tenure as prime minister, Zia was in jail. Courts had convicted her son Tarique Rahman in a number of instances. The interim authorities later acquitted each the mother-son duo.
Western Embassies, The Usman Hadi Issue
On December 12, Hadi, a pacesetter of the Inqilab Manch, was shot by unidentified attackers in Bangladesh. He was taken to a hospital in Singapore for therapy, the place he later died.
He had emerged as a preferred face of the 2024 rebellion that led to the ouster of former Prime Minister Hasina.
Following information of his dying, violence broke out in components of Bangladesh. The Indian Excessive Fee additionally got here beneath assault after rumours unfold that Hadi’s killers had fled to India.
On the day of Hadi’s funeral, European embassies issued condolence messages, and the German Embassy lowered its flag as a mark of respect. India didn’t challenge any official response to his dying.
Former Indian Overseas Secretary Kanwal Sibal has questioned the response from Western nations. In a put up on X, he wrote, “The US, EU, German and French embassies in Bangladesh giving such political prominence to the killing of a scholar chief is diplomatically uncommon. Its relevance in a bilateral or worldwide context is just not clear.”
He added, “What’s much more attention-grabbing is that Hadi had Islamist hyperlinks. His Inqilab Manch aimed to Islamise nominally secular Bangladesh. His conduct was deeply hostile to India, and he laid declare to India’s northeast. A selected message is subsequently being despatched to India within the regional context.”
Sibal additionally wrote that Hadi’s organisation had campaigned to ban the Awami League and block it from contesting upcoming elections.
“Western nations complained that Sheikh Hasina was not democratic sufficient. Mourning an individual whose organisation sought to impose Sharia legislation in Bangladesh goes towards democracy and minority rights. His followers repeatedly burned buildings related to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman whereas rejecting Bangladesh’s liberation battle,” he mentioned.
He went on to ask, “Do these Western embassies endorse all this? Is that this one other instance of Western double requirements and hypocrisy? Official statements of this nature are normally issued when the person has worldwide significance.”
Amid these developments, Russia’s Ambassador to Bangladesh Alexander Grigoryevich Khozin mentioned on Monday that tensions between Bangladesh and India ought to be diminished as quickly as doable. He mentioned he was not interfering in bilateral relations however felt it was smart to discover a technique to stop tensions from rising past the current stage.
Pressure In India-Bangladesh Ties
Relations between India and Bangladesh have been strained since final yr’s unrest in Bangladesh. Anti-India sentiment intensified after the violence that adopted Hadi’s dying.
Final week, a Hindu youth was crushed to dying within the nation. Days later, India and Bangladesh confronted off diplomatically after an alleged protest outdoors the Bangladesh Excessive Fee in New Delhi on December 20.
Following the incident, India’s Ministry of Exterior Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal mentioned India had mentioned what he described as “deceptive propaganda” circulating in sections of the Bangladeshi media.
In an official assertion, he mentioned, “The very fact is that round 20-25 folks gathered outdoors the Bangladesh Excessive Fee in New Delhi on December 20. They raised slogans towards the killing of Dipu Chandra Das in Mymensingh and demanded safety for all minorities in Bangladesh.”
Dhaka reacted strongly to the assertion, protesting towards the demonstration outdoors its mission in New Delhi. It mentioned that the incident couldn’t be dismissed merely as “deceptive propaganda”.
The nation mentioned the “untoward incident” at its Excessive Fee residence on December 20 was regrettable. Calling it deceptive propaganda was unacceptable, it mentioned. In an announcement, Bangladesh’s Overseas Ministry described the episode as an “inappropriate incident”, highlighting the rising pressure between the 2 neighbours as December 25 approaches.