Bangladesh’s time authorities announced on Sunday that it has reintroduced the “except Israel” inscription on its passports, fully outlawing people from visiting the Israeli state.
According to Nilima Afroze, deputy director of the Bangladeshi home department,” we issued the letter to the card and immigration division on April 7,” the state-run Bangladesh Sangstha ( BSS) news agency reported.
During the Awami League state of the time, then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the phrase” THIS PASSPORT IS VALID FOR ALL COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD EXCEPT ISRAEL” was removed from the standard travel papers in May 2021. After Hasina resigned and arrived in India following months of student-led protests against her, the government collapsed in August of last year.
Three weeks after Hasina’s impeachment, the caretaker administration led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus took over.
Why were Bangladeshi documents stripped of the “except Israel” words?
According to BSS, the officials at the time claimed the goal was to “maintain global standards of the file” and that there would be” no shift” to Dhaka’s decades-long travel restrictions to Israel.
Bangladeshis who could get a card for entry to Israel were still permitted to do so after the word was removed.
The two countries do not maintain political relations. A free Palestine is supported by Bangladesh.
What justifies its reintroduction?
The monument was brought up when Israel’s northeast neighbor was outraged at its military offensive against Palestine’s Gaza Strip.
Also Read: At least 72 arrested across Bangladesh after anti-Israel protests turn violent
In the cash Dhaka on Saturday, thousands of protesters gathered with Israeli flags and chanted” Free, Free Palestine.”
The primary opposition took place close to the prestigious Dhaka University’s Suhrawardy Udyan, which is where it is located. The pictures of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump are being “beat” by a number of protesters.
With the protest, Islamic organizations, political parties, former prime minister Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party, as well as other social parties, expressed support for the rally.
