New Delhi, Aug 8 (EFE).- India indefinitely suspended activities in its visa application centers in Bangladesh on Thursday over instability in the neighboring country.
The move comes following the withdrawal of non-essential staff from the Indian diplomatic contingent from Bangladesh and the repatriation of thousands of its citizens in recent weeks.
«All Indian visa application centres will remain closed till further notice, due to the unstable situation. The next application date will be informed through SMS,» the Indian High Commission in Dhaka said in a statement.
This decision coincides with an increase in security on India’s border with Bangladesh, as New Delhi fears that the political crisis in the neighboring country will push many people to try to cross the border into India.
Bangladesh is experiencing a power vacuum since the resignation of Sheikh Hasina as prime minister and her flight to India, under pressure from anti-government student protests that began on July 1 in the Asian country peacefully, but soon turned violent.
The demonstrations were violently repressed by the police, leading to clashes between students and supporters of Hasina’s Awami League, causing the deaths of more than 400 people, according to an independent death toll maintained by EFE.
After the fall of the Hasina government, accused of severely repressing the opposition for years, several properties belonging to members of the Awami League were vandalized and a mob set fire to the party’s offices, spreading fears of possible reprisals against its members and supporters.
In order to stop the possible arrival of Bangladeshis to India, the Indian authorities in recent days decreed a night curfew in some districts near Bangladesh, Indian media NDTV reported.
The state of Meghalaya, which shares nearly 500 kilometers of border with Bangladesh, announced on Monday a curfew along the international border.
Manipur, which does not share a border with Bangladesh but with Assam, bordering the neighboring country, onWednesday imposed a curfew in two districts.
Most of the 19,000 Indian citizens residing in Bangladesh before the start of the protests have already left the country, according to the Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Tuesday. EFE
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