Bangladesh summons Kolkata mission head for ‘urgent meeting’

“Ashrafur Rahman was called for urgent consultations following ongoing protests outside our mission in Kolkata. Additionally, he will be part of the delegation during the foreign secretary-level talks between the two countries slated for next week. He will be back by the middle of this month,” a senior official of the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata told PTI on condition of anonymity.

According to sources, the Bangladesh government is likely to seek a report of the present situation in Kolkata in the backdrop of the protests at the Deputy High Commission office.

Amid rising tensions, the Bangladesh foreign ministry summoned the Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka to register its protest over the vandalism at the mission in Agartala.

Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri will visit Bangladesh next week for the foreign secretary-level meeting, marking the first high-level interaction between the two nations since the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus assumed office on August 8, following the ouster of Sheikh Hasina as prime minister.

The Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata has been the focal point of protests after ISKCON monk Chinmoy Krishna Das was arrested by Bangladesh police on November 25 on charges of treason. Das had been organising rallies in Bangladesh against atrocities on minorities in the country.

There have been protests across West Bengal and other parts of India against the arrest and atrocities in Bangladesh.

A private hospital and some doctors in West Bengal have announced that they would not treat Bangladeshi patients, while hotels in Malda barred guests from the neighboring country.

In Kolkata, protesters including state BJP leaders have marched to the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission office and submitted deputations.

On November 28, a Kolkata police officer was injured as members of a Hindu group clashed with police personnel during a protest march to the Bangladesh mission office.

— WITH PTI