Demand for ‘except Israel’ passport very logical: Home Adviser

Home Affairs Adviser Lt Gen Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury (retd) threw his weight behind a fiery demand Tuesday, calling the reinstatement of “Except Israel” in Bangladeshi passports “very logical.”

The nod came after a meeting with the National Revolutionary Council (NRC) leaders at the ministry, where the group handed over a memorandum pressing the interim government to act—fast.  

NRC’s political head Md Anisur Rahman and Revolutionary Students’ Council convener Abdul Wahed went to Chowdhury’s office to submit the memorandum. 

They demanding reversing the 2021 erasure of “Except Israel” from passports—a move they tie to the ousted Sheikh Hasina regime’s “secret alliance” with Israel. 

 “It’s logical,” said the adviser, per a press release from NRC’s Ghalib Ihsan. 

“The Home Ministry’s on board, but it’s tied to foreign policy. We’ll hash it out with the Foreign Ministry and move on their say.”  

The NRC submitted the memorandum after its month-long campaign in support of the demand. The party began the campaign on February 14 with a rally at Baitul Mukarram’s North Gate. 

The memo doesn’t mince words: Hasina’s government axed “Except Israel” to cozy up to Tel Aviv, even snagging Pegasus spyware to snoop on Bangladeshis. “If the July uprising hadn’t toppled her, she’d have recognized Israel outright,” it claims, painting her India exile as a dodged bullet. Now, with Dr. Muhammad Yunus steering the interim helm, the NRC wants that phrase back—pronto.  

Their four-point demand doubles down: reinstate the Israel ban, nix Pegasus, reject all ties with a “genocidal” state, and amp up Bangladesh’s push for Palestinian independence.