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Bangla Consul in Guwahati recalled

By Sanjoy Ray

GUWAHATI, June 15 - The Bangladesh government�s �surprise� decision to recall its Guwahati-based envoy, and not backing up with any replacement till date, has raised eyebrows in several quarters.

Following the move, which was allegedly kept under wraps for the last one-and-a-half months, the visa-issuing work from Guwahati has come to a grinding halt.

Significantly, although the Bangladesh government issued an immediate time-bound return order for the then Assistant High Commissioner (AHC) Kazi Muntashir Murshed, there has been no replacement for the post since then, raising questions about the haste in approach.

Murshed has now been posted as the Deputy Chief of Protocol, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dhaka.

The abrupt decision to call back the AHC came in the wake of the visit of the Bangladesh President Md Abdul Hamid to Assam in March.

Sources claimed that the office of the Bangladesh High Commissioner in New Delhi was apparently miffed at the functioning of Guwahati office during the President�s visit to Assam after which an internal inquiry was also initiated. Following the inquiry, Murshed was reportedly asked to report back to Bangladesh within a short notice.

When enquired, a staff of the Office of the AHC replied, �The process of issuing of Visa for Bangladesh is not operational for the time being.�

Ever since the Office of the AHC was set up in Guwahati in 2017, it had issued nearly 10,000 visas facilitating travel to the neighbouring nation from Assam, which gave a major lift to bilateral ties.

Refusing to link the transfer with the publication of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), sources said that the AHC of Agartala has been asked to visit the Guwahati office in between till a permanent replacement is made.

Murshed, during his tenure as the AHC, had visited detention camps where declared Bangladeshi nationals are housed. In fact, Dhaka had recently agreed to take back 33 Bangla nationals lodged in detention camps in the State.

Sources, meanwhile, added that the appointment of a new envoy is pending approval from the Government of India and is likely to join in July.

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