No bar for Salahuddin to return home
Home ministry okays his travel pass
Bangladesh's home ministry has approved a travel pass for BNP leader Salahuddin Ahmed, now in India, paving the way for his return home.
"Our home ministry's approval on the matter has already been communicated with our assistant high commission in Guwahati for further actions. The rest will go as per normal procedures," said Rafiqul Islam, acting director general of the foreign ministry's public diplomacy wing, at the weekly briefing yesterday.
Asked when Salahuddin will be back, Rafiqul said it will depend on him. He is free to come anytime.
Salahuddin, 57, who was the state minister for communications in the 2001-06 BNP-Jamaat government, had gone missing from Dhaka on March 10, 2015.
He was found in Shillong of India's northeastern state of Meghalaya on May 11, according to Meghalaya police. He was arrested for trespassing.
A lower court framed charges against him in the case on July 22, 2015, and acquitted him in 2018.
On May 8, Salahuddin asked the assistant high commission of Bangladesh in Guwahati for a travel permit as his passport in 2016 and he couldn't renew it as he was in India.
EXPLANATION ON MURAL
Delhi has responded to Dhaka's query about the mural of Ashoka empire, installed in India's new parliament building, that triggered controversy in some of the neighbouring countries.
"We came to know from the Indian authorities that the mural installed on the parliament building is the depiction of Samrat Ashoka's empire, the one whose governance was accountable, transparent and people's development-centric. It was symbolic," Rafiqul said.
"Its main thought was historic old India reflecting Ashoka's empire. It was, however, described by some media as Akhand Bharat. The issue is under observation," he said.
IORA MEETING
Rafiqul said the biennial meeting of Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Committee of Senior Officials will be held in Sylhet on June 13-14.
A total of 62 officials from 23 IORA member states will be attending the meeting to discuss regional cooperation in the areas of maritime security, trade and investment, fisheries management, disaster risk management, tourism and cultural exchange, science and technology, blue economy and women empowerment.