Learnt of president’s photo removal from newspapers: Rizwana

Environment Advisor Syeda Rizwana Hasan has said she learnt from newspapers that photographs of President Mohammad Shahabuddin were being removed from Bangladesh missions abroad.

On Sunday, she said she was unsure whether such removals carried any political message.

“If it were a government decision, it would have been in writing. I don’t know whether the government has taken such a decision. It was not discussed in the Advisory Council. If it is a government decision, it will come up in the meeting,” she said.

Leading Dhaka media outlets, citing unnamed foreign ministry officials, reported that the ministry on Friday instructed heads of missions worldwide over the phone to remove the president’s photographs.

Some missions reportedly took them down following the political upheaval on Aug 5, 2024.

Several political groups supporting the July Uprising had earlier demanded the removal of the president, who was appointed during the Awami League government.

The latest move is seen by some as a signal from the interim government ahead of the February national election.

On whether this could affect the polls, Rizwana replied: “If photos were removed, that has nothing to do with the election. A photo has no relation to an election.”