The latest decision implies that the diplomatic passport used by ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina while fleeing to India has now been cancelled. File. | Photo credit: AP
Bangladesh’s interim government has decided to cancel all diplomatic passports issued to MPs who served during the Awami League government, the Bangladesh Home Ministry’s security wing said on Wednesday evening. The decision means that diplomatic passports issued to ousted MPs will be cancelled. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was used while fleeing to India Now it has been cancelled.
“The Home Ministry’s security service has taken this decision after consulting all stakeholders and has already alerted all emigration counters in the country,” the Home Ministry said in a statement shared with the media here.
The notification said a formal order would be issued “as soon as possible”. Ms Hasina won the Gopalganj-3 constituency in the Jatiya Sangsad in the January election and was re-elected as an MP.
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The decision, taken two weeks after the formation of the interim government, has highlighted the resentment expressed by the interim administration and student leaders over Ms. Hasina’s presence in India. Ms. Hasina and her sister Sheikh Rehana left Bangladesh on August 5, when protesters stormed Dhaka.
The Foreign Ministry in New Delhi did not say what diplomatic status Ms Hasina had used to seek asylum in India, though it is understood that as Bangladesh Prime Minister she held a diplomatic passport which she used to travel to India.