Anti-India protests erupt inside Dhaka visa centre, panicked mission staff dials MEA: Report

Hundreds of protestors staged anti-India demonstrations outside the Indian Visa Application Centre (IVAC), impeding not only the operations of the Indian visa centre but also the visa processing for other countries. These people were there to collect passports but suddenly a demonstration at Indian visa centre after being told that the processing of their visa applications was going to take time. 

Due to the incident, India has demanded enhanced security from Bangladesh and the matter has been taken up with the foreign affairs ministry in Dhaka. 

"You know, we are working with limited staff members. Some of the local staff members are yet to join. It's not violent. But there was a crowd today as many rushed to collect their passports," an official told The Times of India. 

Despite no vandalism or any physical assault, staff members were panicked and felt threatened, due to which they could not continue with limited services. The police rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control.

Protestors could be heard raising slogans like "Indian collaborators beware... One point, one demand -- we want a visa" in a viral video.

The incident came after students clashed with hundreds of protesting paramilitary personnel, who were demanding job regularisation. In these protests that took place on August 25, around 50 people were injured.

Both police and army had to be deployed to restore law and order, as per Bangladeshi media reports. Previously, Indian high commissioner to Bangladesh Pranay Verma flagged concerns on the safety and security of Indian establishments in the country, including the high commission in Dhaka. 

As of now, there is no proposal to pull out more embassy staff from the country as of now. 

Bangladeshi citizens mostly visit India for tourism, medical and educational purposes. Of them, 60 per cent visited India for tourism purposes, 30 per cent for medical purposes and 10 per cent for other purposes.