Published : 23 Jun 2023, 01:55 AM
Young Bangladeshi politician Nurul Haque Nur had three meetings with Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and India, Palestinian Ambassador Yousef SY Ramadan has said.
Speaking to reporters in Dhaka on Thursday, the Palestinian ambassador questioned the impact of Nur’s alleged meetings with Mossad on Bangladesh’s security and stability.
Nur, a Gono Odhikar Parishad leader who recently made headlines for his dispute with party chief Reza Kibria, first met Israeli agent Mendi N Safadi during the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar, according to Ramadan.
“During the football games in Qatar, that was the first time it came to our attention, our intelligent sources were interested in it and we were able to get some photos. He [Nur] was meeting with Safadi about this issue. And there were other meetings that took place I think in Dubai, in Qatar, in India – those were the three places they had met,” Ramadan said.
“If he [Nur] denies it’s good enough for me, as a Palestinian it’s good enough. But is that good enough for the government of Bangladesh, for the security forces of Bangladesh? Because he will be disturbing the security and stability of Bangladesh as much as he will be doing for Palestine.”
He alleged what Nur was “trying to sell to Mossad is not in the best interest of the people of Bangladesh at all”.
“They [Nur] can be an agent to Mossad,” Ramadan said.
Nur came to the limelight after his organisation Bangladesh Council to Protect General Students’ Rights spearheaded a campaign against quotas in government jobs in 2018.
He was elected the vice-president of Dhaka University Central Students’ Union in 2019.
Later, he formed the Gono Odhikar Parishad as its member secretary. But his followers in the party removed Convenor Reza Kibria after Kibria questioned Nur’s involvement with Israel and alleged embezzlement of funds. Kibria then announced the suspension of Nur.
This is not the first time Safadi’s name has come up in Bangladesh’s politics. Meetings with Safadi had BNP leader Aslam Chowdhury landed in jail on treason charges for alleged conspiracy against Bangladesh.

Nur has denied the allegation of his involvement with Mossad as “baseless, imaginary and false”.
In a Facebook video posting, he claimed the allegations against him were part of a “conspiracy” to mislead people because of Gono Odhikar’s anti-government movement.
“If the Palestinian ambassador had information on meetings in three countries, have they [Palestine] been asleep for seven months?”
Nur dared Ramadan to publish evidence of the meetings.