The relationship between Bangladesh and Pakistan has been strained further as Dhaka strongly protested harassment of its staff in Islamabad and a press release issued by the Pak high commission.
Yesterday, the Foreign Ministry summoned Pakistan High Commissioner in Dhaka, Shuja Alam, and handed him over a note verbale protesting the incidents. In an hour-long meeting between acting foreign secretary Khurshed Alam, Secretary (Bilateral) Mizanur Rahman and the Pak envoy, Dhaka wanted to know why the press release was issued and why the Bangladeshi official was harassed.On Monday, Jahangir Hossain, an official at the Bangladesh High Commission to Pakistan, was forcefully picked up by plainclothesmen and detained for about seven hours.
This incident took place only one and a half hours after Abrar Ahmed Khan, an official of the Pakistan High Commission in Dhaka, was released from police custody. He was detained by police detectives for dubious activities.
Several hours after police released Abrar, his office – the Pak high commission in Dhaka – issued a press release around 9pm.
A Foreign Ministry official told the Dhaka Tribune that Bangladesh was unhappy for two reasons.
After Abrar was detained by detectives, Pak envoy Shuja informed the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry about the matter. The Foreign Ministry assured him that Abrar would be released. However, the Ministry was surprised to see the press release several hours after Abrar had been released.
The second reason is the alleged harassment of Bangladeshi diplomat Jahangir Hossain by plainclothesmen in Islamabad.
Jahangir’s report
Bangladesh High Commissioner to Pakstan Suhrab Hosain told the Dhaka Tribune that Jahangir had reached home safe and sound after midnight.
In a written report narrating his horrific experience, Jahangir said he had received a phone call after 6pm on Monday; the caller asked him about how to get Bangladesh visa.
The caller also asked him where he was and after listening to his reply, hung up abruptly.
The phone call did not raise any alarm for Jahangir and he left the high commission office on his motorbike to pick up his daughter from private tuition.
On his way, he was stopped by a car and three to four plainclothesmen asked for his identity card. When Jahangir asked them who they were, they said they were security personnel.
He showed them his ID card but one of them told him that the card needed verification because it belonged to an Afghan. Then they forced him on to the car, handcuffed him and put a black cloth over his face.
After travelling for a while, the car came to a stop. There Jahangir was asked where he worked and who his councillor was. He gave answer to all their queries.
After about two hours, another person came and told him that his ID card had been verified and everything was okay.
He was then taken to a place and asked to get down from the car. Around midnight, they gave him his motorbike, mobile phone, ID card and other belongings back.
When he eventually came back home, the clock was hitting one in the morning on Tuesday.
More on Abrar
Abrar was detained for his dubious activities. He had been under security watch for several months and his call was tracked.
Sources said Abrar spent most of his time around the residence of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia.
He owns a motorbike but it does not have a diplomatic number plate. According to a circular issued in 1983, all diplomatic vehicles including motorcycle must have diplomatic number plates.
