Dhaka summons Indian envoy after protests at Bangladesh High Commission

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh on Tuesday (December 23, 2025) summoned the Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka, Pranay Verma, and lodged a strong protest after hundreds of supporters of Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal gathered near the Bangladesh High Commission in Chanakyapuri and demanded safety for the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh.

Dhaka urged India to ensure security of its consular and diplomatic staff in India and called for a “thorough” investigation into the protests outside its missions after Bangladesh citizen Dipu Chandra Das was lynched and burnt in a public square last Thursday. He was accused of blasphemy by a mob in Mymensingh.

“Bangladesh condemns such acts of premeditated violence or intimidation against diplomatic establishments, which not only endanger the safety of diplomatic personnel but also undermine the principles of mutual respect and values of peace and tolerance,” said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Dhaka in a statement after Mr. Verma met Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh Asad Alam Siam.

The Indian High Commissioner was summoned following a series of incidents that started with reports claiming that the main plotters in the murder of radical leader Sharif Osman Hadi had escaped to India. This triggered mobs to target the Indian High Commission in Dhaka and other Indian missions in Bangladesh. Responding to the security situation, India stopped work at all the Indian Visa Application Centres (IVACs), but sources said the centres have since restarted work though the IVAC in Chittagong will open after the security situation improves.

Bangladesh stopped visa facilities at the High Commission here starting from Monday and shut “all visa and consular” services in the Assistant High Commission of Bangladesh in Agartala in view of the prevailing situation. Protests took place outside the Bangladesh visa processing centre in Siliguri and attracted attention in Dhaka.

On Tuesday, the External Affairs Ministry “called in” Riaz Hamidullah, the High Commissioner of Bangladesh, and conveyed the Indian position on the controversy regarding Hadi’s death saying that blaming India without any evidence has created diplomatic challenges and could have been avoided, official sources said. Trying to de-escalate the tension, officials here refused to describe the meeting with Mr. Hamidullah as “summoning” and said that “he was called for a cordial discussion”.

In Delhi, a senior officer told The Hindu that additional 1,500 police officials were deployed to deal with the protesters who were stopped around 800 metres from the main gate of the Bangladesh High Commission.

The interim administration of Bangladesh on Tuesday sent the country’s education advisor C. R. Abrar to meet the family of Das in Mymensingh. In a message, chief adviser of the administration Mohammad Yunus said the killing of Das was a “heinous criminal act with no justification and no place in Bangladeshi society” and extended financial support to his family