DHAKA, Bangladesh: Bangladesh has suspended all consular services and visa operations in New Delhi and Agartala after a protest by “Hindu extremists” outside its High Commission in the Indian capital that Dhaka said raised serious security concerns for its diplomatic staff.
The services will remain suspended until further notice. A senior official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed the decision to the Dhaka Tribune on Monday evening, adding that a formal notice had been posted at the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi.
On Saturday night, around 20 to 25 members of the extremist group Akhand Hindu Rashtrasena held a demonstration outside the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi, lasting approximately 20 minutes.
During the protest, they shouted anti-Bangladesh slogans and issued threats against Bangladesh’s High Commissioner to India, M Riaz Hamidullah.
Following the incident, Bangladesh’s foreign advisor said the high commissioner’s family in New Delhi felt threatened and faced potential security risks.
Meanwhile, in Kolkata, several Hindu organisations staged protests outside the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission on Monday afternoon.
The demonstration was led by West Bengal Leader of the Opposition and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari.
Hundreds of protesters marched from the Bagbazar intersection but were stopped by the Kolkata Police about 200 metres from the mission.
In a statement on Sunday, the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry said: “The miscreants were allowed to carry out their activities right outside the perimeters of the High Commission, creating panic among the personnel inside the complex. The High Commission was not given advance information about this organised event.”
The ministry also rejected the “attempt of the Indian authorities to depict an isolated attack on a Bangladeshi citizen, who happens to belong to the Hindu community, as an attack on minorities.”
“It is the duty of all governments in the region to ensure protection of minorities in their respective countries,” the ministry statement said.
The unjustifiable incident at the Bangladesh High Commission residence in New Delhi on 20 Dec 2025 is highly regrettable.@bdhc_delhi pic.twitter.com/XopXufH3dw
— Ministry of Foreign Affairs (@BDMOFA) December 21, 2025
Bangladesh Foreign Affairs Advisor Touhid Hossain separately told reporters in Dhaka that the family of the Bangladesh High Commissioner has been “feeling at risk” since the Saturday night incident.
The mission’s location in Delhi is extremely secure within the diplomatic zone. “Why can Hindu extremists enter that area? Hossain said, adding that if they had been allowed to come, such an incident would not have occurred.
The two South Asian neighbours have been exchanging words since last year’s uprising that ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year rule. Hasina has been in India since August last year.
