Foreign ministry tight-lipped as president’s portraits taken down from Bangladesh embassies overseas

Portraits of President Mohammed Shahabuddin have been removed from Bangladesh’s embassies abroad, though the foreign ministry has issued no formal order or explanation.

At a briefing on Sunday evening, Foreign Secretary Asad Alam Siam declined to comment when asked, while ministry spokesperson Shah Asif Rahman also sidestepped questions.

Senior officers, however, said that after the Aug 5 change of government, most embassies abroad had already taken down portraits of the president and deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, alongside images of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Those missions that still displayed them were told by phone on Saturday to remove them as well.

Asking not to be named, one senior officer said the Constitution mandates displaying Bangabandhu’s portrait, but photos of presidents and prime ministers were only a “tradition”. The new policy was that no one else’s photos would be displayed.

Despite the removals abroad, Shahabuddin’s portrait remained on display at the ministry’s cafeteria in Dhaka until Sunday afternoon.

Environment Advisor Syeda Rizwana Hasan acknowledged reading about the move in newspapers, but said it had no link to elections.

“A photo has no relation to an election,” she said, adding that if it were an official government decision, it would have been in writing and discussed in the Advisory Council.

Officials said the issue came up after Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus visited Malaysia recently and found the president’s portrait still displayed at the Kuala Lumpur embassy and the ambassador’s residence. The question then arose why some missions had not complied, prompting instructions to ensure uniformity across all missions.