Anti-India protesters outside the Indian high commission in Dhaka on Wednesday laid siege to the diplomatic enclave, trying to break through a double-layered police cordon around the mission hours after New Delhi had summoned Bangladesh’s high commissioner to convey concern about the security environment in his country.

The high commissioner was summoned in the wake of July Oikyo’s call to march to the Indian high commission to demand the extradition of ousted Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and others who have been given refuge by India since the student protests of July-August 2024. July Oikyo is a coalition of Bangladeshi groups formed after the uprising of July last year, and their demands include a government free from Indian influence.

The protest took place as scheduled in the afternoon and the agitators attempted to break through the barricades around the Indian mission. Television footage showed protesters pull apart the first layer of barricades even as the police formed a human wall to prevent them from pushing down the next one. Another video circulating online showed a protest leader threatening to enter the high commission the next time, stating that “Indian imperialism” would not be tolerated in Bangladesh.

According to a PTI report from Dhaka, the protesters chanted anti-India slogans and raised several demands, including Hasina’s extradition. Hasina and former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal were sentenced to death by a tribunal in
November.

On Wednesday afternoon, the police intercepted the procession, which started from the Rampura bridge in front of Hossain Market in North Badda, where the diplomatic mission is located, a police spokesman in Dhaka was quoted by PTI as saying. Traffic on the main thoroughfare along the diplomatic enclave housing most foreign embassies remained suspended for hours, he said.

Dhaka police’s deputy commissioner, Nur-e-Alam Siddique, said their units from different areas were called in to strengthen the security of the diplomatic enclave. Earlier, the Indian Visa Application Centre (IVAC) at Jamuna Future Park in Dhaka closed its office in view of the security situation.

Earlier in the day, the external affairs ministry said Bangladesh envoy Riaz Hamidullah was summoned and apprised of India’s strong concern over the deteriorating security environment in the neighbouring country. His attention was drawn, in particular, to the activities of some extremist elements who had announced plans to create a security situation around the Indian mission in Dhaka. He was also told that India expects the interim government to ensure the safety of missions and posts in Bangladesh in keeping with its diplomatic obligations.

“India completely rejects the false narrative sought to be created by extremist elements regarding certain recent events in Bangladesh. It is unfortunate that the interim government has neither conducted a thorough investigation nor shared meaningful evidence with India regarding the incidents,” the ministry further said.

Iterating India’s close and friendly relations with the people of Bangladesh, the ministry once again articulated New Delhi’s position on the elections due in February. “We are in favour of peace and stability in Bangladesh and have consistently called for free, fair, inclusive and credible elections, conducted in a peaceful atmosphere,” it said.

On Sunday, Bangladesh had summoned the Indian high commissioner in Dhaka, Pranay Verma, to convey serious concern over India “allowing” Hasina to allegedly “make incendiary statements” asking her supporters to thwart the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Quoting a media release issued by the Bangladesh foreign ministry, Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) — the state-owned news agency — said Verma was summoned to the office and told about Dhaka’s “serious concern over India allowing fugitive Sheikh Hasina to continue to make incendiary statements calling upon her supporters to engage in terrorist activities in Bangladesh, aiming to thwart the upcoming parliamentary elections”.

Bangladesh once again sought her extradition. While Bangladesh has been asking India to send Hasina back since last year, Dhaka has stepped up pressure after the death sentence was announced in mid-November. India has acknowledged receipt of the request for her extradition but has remained non-committal, maintaining that next year’s elections should be inclusive.