Tensions have escalated after a group of people raised anti-India slogans at the Indian Visa Center in Dhaka on Monday. After this, India has demanded increased security from Bangladesh. The Indian High Commission in Dhaka has raised the matter with a diplomatic note to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Dhaka. Although no one was physically attacked in this attack, the employees of the visa center were terrified. Meanwhile, it became difficult for them to continue working. Police have said that people had come there to get passports but suddenly started protesting at the Visa Application Center (IVAC). According to the information, this protest started when they were told that the processing of their applications was going to take time due to lack of staff.
The Times of India quoted an official as saying that after the disturbance increased, the police reached the spot and brought the situation under control. Several videos of this incident also went viral on social media in which people demanding Indian visas are seen raising anti-India slogans. People can be heard raising slogans like “Indians beware, one demand – we want visa”. The officials here are already under a lot of stress after attempts by a group of students and political parties to incite anti-India sentiments. After this incident, the pressure on the High Commission personnel increased further.
India’s largest visa handling centre in Bangladesh
After this, the officials called the Ministry of External Affairs. On August 22, Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pranay Verma expressed concern about the security of Indian establishments in Bangladesh besides its High Commission in Dhaka. An official said on the condition of anonymity, “You know, we are working with limited staff. Some local employees have not returned yet. There was a rush today as many people rushed to get their passports.” It is worth noting that Bangladesh has India’s largest visa handling center and last year 16 lakh people came to India. Of these, 60% were tourists, while 30% came here for medical work and 10% for other reasons.
There is no proposal to evacuate more employees from the country right now
According to sources, there is no proposal to evacuate more employees from the country right now. The Indian Visa Centre had earlier said that visa processing may take longer due to limited operations. “So we are returning passports now and will resume it once operations resume. Applicants will be informed through messages to resubmit their passports,” the centre said.