Will Bangladesh Revoke Diplomatic Passports Of Sheikh Hasina, Her Ministers, MPs?

Dhaka: Bangladesh’s interim government may soon revoke diplomatic passports of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, her Cabinet ministers and members of parliament (MPs).

Hindustan Times quoted a senior Home ministry official as saying that the process of revoking all diplomatic passports has already been initiated.

“The mover will also apply to diplomatic passports of officials who were sent into mandatory retirement or whose contracts were terminated. As they are no longer in their positions, the decision to revoke their passport was taken,” the official told HT.

A formal notification has not yet been issued.

“Only verbal instruction on this matter has been issued to the Department of Immigration and Passports. The written instruction may be sent to the department today,” he added.

There have been reports of several former Cabinet ministers and MPs of Hasina’s Awami League party trying to flee Bangladesh, like their leader who resigned and escaped to India on August 5.

A few ex-ministers were detained when they attempted to leave the country. The Border Guard Bangladesh has strengthened security along the frontier with India over the previous fortnight.