In 88 days and many more weeks to come, Indian authorities are expected to give a green signal to process tourist visas for Bangladesh nationals who plan to visit India.
On 5 August, the day the autocratic regime of Sheikh Hasina collapsed after angry students joined by protesters forced her government to collapse and she fled to India. The first thing the Delhi administration decided was to shut down the visa processing centres in Dhaka and elsewhere in the country indefinitely.
A couple of Indian visa centres were vandalised by anti-Indian mobs in the aftermath of the collapse of the kleptocracy regime. In the absence of police and auxiliary forces in fear of reprisal from the angry students for the deaths of more than a thousand protesters, they abandoned their posts and went into hiding.
Responding to a query from a journalist, Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Randhir Jaiswal in Delhi said that India would resume normal visa operations in Bangladesh.
MEA spokesperson in New Delhi said: “We are issuing limited visas. If someone needs to come to India for medical or urgent reasons, we are providing a limited number of those visas.”
He, however, said, “We are already issuing medical visas and visas for emergency requirements. Once the law and order situation improves and the situation becomes conducive to our resumption of normal visa operations (in Bangladesh), we will do that.”
The MEA spokesperson mentioned the “law and order situation”, which literally means Bangladesh is a lawless country.
The mindset of bigwigs sitting in the Indian capital, after Sheikh Hasina fled to Delhi, the country has plunged into chaos, like in Haiti or Kabul.
Indian media seems hesitant to raise the ongoing closure of visa processing for most categories; instead, they are busy critiquing the Interim Government of Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus. Playing with Hindu cards worried about the threats on the Hindu community by radicalised Muslims and Islamist groups.
The Indian media hardly wrote a line on the intermittent attacks, vandalism of business establishments and desecration of temples during the 15 years of Sheikh Hasina’s autocratic regime.
Squeezing of issuance of Indian visas to Bangladesh nationals is a tit-for-tat for widespread August incidents of idol vandalism during Durga Puja celebrations across various places in Bangladesh, India feels that the situation has not yet normalised, as indicated by the spokesperson.
Indian media and South Block have aptly ventilated their anger and frustration blaming Dr Yunus for his failure to contain the sectarian riots in several cities and towns.
Jaiswal further stated: “I would advise the interim government of Bangladesh to implement the assurances they have given (to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi) regarding the protection of Bangladesh’s religious minorities. Measures should be taken to ensure they feel safe.”
On the other hand, Foreign Affairs Adviser Touhid Hossain observed that issuing of visa is a sovereign decision of India, and cannot be questioned.
The Indian High Commission has resumed operations after a brief suspension during the student movement in July but is currently issuing only a limited number of visas.
“However, we have communicated with the Indian High Commission, as many individuals travel to India to obtain visas for other countries. This situation also affects students who wish to study in countries that issue visas from the New Delhi mission.”
The Adviser suggested to the High Commissioner that “if you relax the visa process, it will be helpful for us.”
The Indian High Commissioner Pranay Kumar Verma updated Bangladesh’s Foreign Adviser on the situation, noting that they are currently operating at “10% capacity” and have security concerns to address.
He (Verma) also mentioned that the South Block in New Delhi is working to facilitate visa applications for countries that do not have missions in Dhaka.
When asked if Bangladesh would reciprocate by restricting visas in response to India’s limited issuance, the adviser said, “That’s speculative. They have not stated that they stopped issuing visas; they mentioned it’s a temporary problem due to manpower issues and security concerns.”
The MEA spokesperson added: “Only when the law-and-order situation improves and we have a suitable environment for our regular operations will we be able to issue visas as before.”
“We will try to ensure security for the Indian Visa Centres,” the Adviser added.
Meanwhile, the passenger flights from Dhaka and Chattogram have significantly reduced flights to several Indian destinations due to fewer passengers.
Similarly, the direct passenger trains from Khulna and Dhaka to Kolkata and Siliguri have also stopped for want of passengers.
Only the land borders are open to several Indian states, including West Bengal, Meghalaya, Assam, and Tripura.
The reduction of tourists to Indian cities, especially Kolkata has severely dented the hotel, restaurant and tour operator industry. Shopping tourism from Bangladesh has been equally harmed, according to Indian media.
Among the top 15 countries, Bangladesh (22.3 percent) topped in Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India in 2023, while the United States of America and the United Kingdom stand second and third respectively, according to the Indian Ministry Of Tourism.
Approximately 2.12 million tourists visited India in 2023, making Bangladesh the top source of FTAs in India that year.
A top Indian diplomat in the Indian High Commission posted in Dhaka confided that lack of security at the visa centres deters normal functioning.
Over a hundred non-essential Indian staff managing the centres have left for India in the aftermath of the student uprising and attacks in some centres outside the capital Dhaka.
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He could not say when the visa processing centres are expected to resume normal function. The decision remains with the government in New Delhi after consultation with Dhaka.
It seems that tens of thousands of tourists are not expected to begin their journey in the coming winter.
Saleem Samad is an award-winning independent journalist based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. A media rights defender with the Reporters Without Borders (@RSF_inter). Recipient of Ashoka Fellowship and Hellman-Hammett Award. He could be reached at saleemsamad@hotmail.com; Twitter (X): @saleemsamad
