Immigration authorities at New Delhi airport arrested an advisor to Bangladesh Prime Minister Tariq Rahman because his name appeared on a security-related blacklist, prompting Dhaka to summon the Indian Charge d’Affaires on Monday to register a protest over the incident.
Zahid Rahman, Advisor to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh for Policy and Strategy, arrived at Indira Gandhi International Airport on Sunday evening at the head of his country’s delegation to attend a meeting of the Senior Officials Committee of the Indian Ocean Rim Association. He was stopped when his name was flagged during a security check.
People familiar with the matter said that Zahid Rahman has a long history of making anti-India statements, especially on his YouTube channel ‘Zahed’s Take’ which has been banned in India, which is why his name is on the watch list.
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“He has been detained by the immigration department for verification, in light of his previous statements about India,” said one of the people who requested anonymity. “He received a one-time exemption to enter India and it was approved, by which time he had decided to return to Bangladesh on another flight.”
A second person pointed out that granting a visa is a sovereign decision of the state and not a right. The second person said that Zahid Rahman, who was traveling on a regular passport and not a diplomatic passport, did not apply for an Indian visa and obtained a SAARC visa from the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry and the Indian side was not informed about it either.
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“If the Indian side had been informed, steps could have been taken to address the blacklisting of his name,” the second person said.
The Bangladesh Foreign Ministry summoned India’s Chargé d’Affairs Pawan Badhe and expressed its “deep disappointment” over the incident involving Zahid Rahman, the state-run BSS news agency reported, citing an unnamed ministry official. Bangladesh Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman described the incident as “unexpected” and “unfortunate” and told reporters in Dhaka that the government was taking appropriate steps.
