Dhaka (Quds News Network)- Bangladesh has restored an “except Israel” inscription on passports, according to several reports on Sunday, effectively barring its citizens from traveling to Israel.
The Muslim-majority Bangladesh does not recognize Israel. The phrase “valid for all countries except Israel,” which was printed on Bangladeshi passports for decades, was removed in 2021 during the later years of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s tenure. However, Hasina’s government at the time clarified that the country’s stance on Israel had not changed.
Nilima Afroze, a deputy secretary at the home ministry, told Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) news agency on Sunday that authorities had “issued a directive last week” to restore the inscription.
The director general of the department of immigration and passport was asked to take necessary measures to implement this change,” local newspaper The Daily Star quoted Afroze as saying Sunday.
The Bengladeshi population’s support for an independent Palestinian state was visible on Saturday when around 100,000 people gathered in Dhaka in solidarity with Gaza against Israel’s genocide. This was the country’s largest pro-Palestinian rally.
They carried hundreds of Palestinian flags and chanted slogans such as “Free, Free Palestine.”
Demonstrators also beat the images of US President Donald Trump, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi because of their support for Israel.
The rally’s declaration listed reinstating the “except Israel” clause as a primary demand.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party, headed by former prime minister Khaleda Zia, and other Islamist groups and parties expressed their solidarity with the rally.
Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority nation of 170 million people, maintains no diplomatic relations with Israel and it officially supports an independent Palestine.