New Delhi: India Tuesday “advised” dependents of its diplomats in Bangladesh to leave the country due to the security situation ahead of the 12 February elections.
“Given the security situation, as a precautionary measure, we have advised the dependents of mission and post officials to return to India. The mission and all posts in Bangladesh continue to remain open and operational,” sources informed ThePrint.
Anti-India sentiments have increased in Bangladesh, especially after the death of political aspirant Sharif Osman Hadi last month. Hadi died on 18 December in Singapore, six days after being shot in Dhaka.
India has repeatedly urged Dhaka to ensure the safety and security of its missions in Bangladesh.
Between 18 and 20 December, violence rocked Bangladesh, with two of its media houses, Prothom Alo and The Daily Star, having their offices burnt down.
The protesters took aim at India, asserting that the killers of Hadi had fled to India—a claim that has so far not been proven.
The situation, at the time, led to India temporarily shutting down its visa centres in Rajshahi and Khulna, as well as consular services across some of its missions in Bangladesh, including Chattogram.
However, New Delhi moved quickly to reopen its services after the protests and ensuing violence ended last month.
The diplomatic fallout saw Bangladesh close its consular services across its missions in India, especially after Dipu Chandra Das, a Hindu man, was killed and set on fire in public on the first night of the protests in Mymensingh.
The killing of Das led to protests in some pockets of the national capital and other cities outside the Bangladeshi missions in India.
Tensions remain high between India and Bangladesh, with New Delhi repeatedly urging Dhaka to ensure the safety and security of its minorities.
India has maintained that minority communities have been targeted with violence since the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024.
The elections on 12 February will see a democratic transition to a post-Hasina government for the first time since 2009.
Bangladesh, on the other hand, has consistently rejected that attacks on minorities have been “communal” in nature, stating that it has, instead, been politically motivated violence.
On Monday, Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus’s office claimed that 645 incidents of violence against minorities had been recorded in the 2025 calendar year, with a majority not being communal in nature.
“A yearlong review of official police records for January to December 2025 documents 645 incidents involving members of minority communities, compiled from verified First Information Reports, General Diaries, charge sheets, and investigation updates nationwide,” Yunus’s office said in a statement on X.
“While every incident is a matter of concern, the data presents a clear and evidence-based picture: the overwhelming majority of cases were criminal in nature rather than communal, underscoring both the complexity of law-and-order challenges and the importance of grounding public discussion in facts rather than fear or misinformation.”
The statement added, “The findings show that 71 incidents were identified as having communal elements, while 574 incidents were assessed as non-communal in nature. Communal incidents primarily involved vandalism or desecration of religious sites and idols, along with a small number of other offenses. In contrast, the majority of incidents affecting minority individuals or properties arose from criminal activity unrelated to religion, including neighborhood disputes, land conflicts, political rivalries, theft, sexual violence, and cases linked to prior personal enmity.”
The Government of Bangladesh last year announced it had received over 2000 complaints of violence against minorities and opened investigations into the incidents.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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