Dhaka16 minutes ago
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Bangladesh does not have a diplomatic relationship with Israel and supports Azad Palestine.
Mohammad Yunus’s interim government in Bangladesh has prohibited Bangladeshi people from going to Israel. The government has taken this decision to register a protest against the Israeli army attacks in Gaza.
On the passports of Bangladeshi people, the government has again started writing ‘not valid for Israel’. In 2021, the Sheikh Hasina government directed to remove this line from passports.
The Ministry of Home Affairs of Bangladesh has issued instructions to write this line again on travel permits of citizens going abroad- ‘This passport is valid in all countries except Israel’.
Neelima Afroz, deputy secretary of the Security Services Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs, said that the order has been issued on 7 April.
A Muslim -dominated Bangladesh with a population of 17 crores does not have a diplomatic relationship with Israel and supports Azad Palestine.
Smoke arose from the relief camp after Israeli bombing in Al-Tufa area of Gaza.
Bangladesh’s ‘Israel’ policy except
A line used to be written on the old Bangladeshi passports- ‘This passport is valid in all other countries except Israel’. In 2021, the line was removed from passports by the then PM Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government. At that time, officials had said that they have not changed their stand on Israel, these steps have been taken only to maintain the passports’ international standard.
At that time, Bangladesh’s foreign minister AK Abdul Momin had said that no one can visit Israel from Bangladesh and if someone goes, legal action will be taken against him. However, after removing the line from passports, Bangladeshis were allowed that if they get a visa from a third country, they can go to Israel.
Anti -Israel protests in Bangladesh
A day before this announcement, thousands of protesters took to the streets of Dhaka and lodged a protest against the Israeli attacks in Gaza. People were shouting slogans of ‘Azad Karo Karo’ with Palestinian flags.
The main demonstration took place at Suhravardi Park near Dhaka University. Many people here were seen fighting with pictures of US President Donald Trump and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu. Islamic groups and parties of former Bangladeshi PM Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Right Wing expressed their support for this performance.