Dhaka: The Bangladeshi government has announced that the
words ‘except Israel’ will be included again in the general passport.
According to Bangladeshi media, while talking to
journalists, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed said that the condition of ‘except
Israel’ will be included again in the general passport, which has already been
implemented in the diplomatic passport.
Sources in the Bangladeshi Ministry of Home Affairs and the
Immigration and Passports Department say that this decision is being restored
in accordance with Bangladesh’s long-standing foreign policy, public sentiment
and moral stance on the Palestine issue.
According to Bangladeshi media, in 2021, during the Awami
League government, the words ‘except Israel’ were removed from the passports
when the e-passport service was launched at a cost of about 4500 crore taka.
The Hasina Wajid government also faced severe criticism for this decision.
During the interim government last year, the Ministry of
Interior issued a letter on April 7, in which it was directed to the
authorities to include the words “except Israel” in the passport again.
However, at that time, this decision could not be fully implemented except for
diplomatic passports.
It should be noted that Bangladesh has never had diplomatic
relations with Israel before and does not have them today. Since its separation
from Pakistan in 1971, Bangladeshi passports, like Pakistani passports, have
traditionally included this wording. This passport is valid for all countries
in the world, except Israel.
According to the authorities, changes are also being made to
the watermark images of the passports. The newly added images will include the
image of Abu Saeed with his arms outstretched, which is considered a symbol of
the July People’s Movement. Along with this, several existing images will also
be removed, including the mausoleum of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the Mujib
Nagar monument.
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