Speaking of conditions at Dhaka airport, there is a huge need on our part to educate our immigration officials on the many ways in which foreigners who land at the airport can be treated in a decent manner. A few days ago, 23 well-known Indian journalists arrived in the capital to attend a Bangladesh-India media dialogue organized by a local think tank.
Once they landed, they were asked a whole number of unnecessary and irritating questions by immigration, despite the fact that all these journalists had their invitation letters with them and, of course, visas stamped on their passports. Some of them were asked why they had been given a year's multiple entry visa; others were asked where they would be staying. At least one senior journalist, who has been a frequent visitor to Bangladesh, was subjected to what he called an interrogation.
These journalists, among whom was one whose father had fought in the 1971 war and who remains proud of his contribution to our liberation, were kept waiting at the airport for between two and three hours while their passports were taken from them to be photocopied. That is unthinkable.
At the airport, immigration officers are simply to put the seal on the passports. The fact that these media people from India had to surrender their passports to them was akin to a situation where one had foreign enemies of the state landing in the country.It was not an edifying moment for us, the people of Bangladesh.
Latest News