Was an instant protest, says Bangladesh PM's aide as New Delhi entry row snowballs

Zahed Ur Rahman, a top advisor to Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, said he turned back from New Delhi after being stopped at the IGI Airport for 2.5 hours as he felt the need for an "instant protest". Zahed told mediapersons in Dhaka on Tuesday that he wanted to demonstrate that he "felt a message needed to be sent both inside and outside the country that this is not Sheikh Hasina's government".

While Zahed was allowed entry subsequently, he returned to Dhaka, and Bangladesh summoned a top Indian diplomat on Monday. He called the incident "harassment by Indian authorities", according to Bangladeshi news outlet Prothom Alo.

Even as the controversy snowballed, Zahed said he didn't want to create hostility or "negative situation" because of his decision. "We do not want a bad situation with any country under any circumstances. I hope this incident will not affect future relations between the two countries," the Dhaka-based Daily Star quoted him as saying.

However, the immediate damage had been done.

Reports suggest that Zahed, Adviser on Policy and Strategy Affairs, was on a watchlist in India and was travelling on an ordinary, and not a diplomatic, passport.

In what seemed like an effort at damage control, Zahed was quoted by The Daily Star as saying that he would have "no objection to visiting India in the future if proper procedures were followed".

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