Rajshahi Divisional Commissioner Yusuf Ali has been withdrawn and attached to the Ministry of Public Administration after a video circulated on social media showing him attempting to embrace Prime Minister Tarique Rahman while seeing him off at the Rajshahi airport. The order was issued in a notification from the Ministry of Public Administration on Tuesday night. However, the notification did not mention any reason for his withdrawal.
Signed by Deputy Secretary Jeti Pru of the Ministry of Public Administration, the notification stated that the order, issued in the public interest, will take immediate effect.
According to sources at the Divisional Commissioner's office, after receiving the notification, Yusuf Ali held a brief meeting with officials of his department. Later, around 11 PM, he handed over his responsibilities to Additional Divisional Commissioner (Revenue) Rezaul Alam Sarkar and left Rajshahi.
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman visited Rajshahi on Tuesday. A video of the Divisional Commissioner's behavior spread, capturing the moment he was being seen off at the Hazrat Shah Makhdum (R.) Airport in the evening. The 14-second video shows the Prime Minister shaking hands with police and administration officials standing in a line. As the Prime Minister extended his hand toward Yusuf Ali, the commissioner stepped forward, shook hands, and placed his other hand behind the Prime Minister. Based on the video, it is perceived that he was attempting to embrace the Prime Minister.
The video shows the Prime Minister stepping back slightly to stop him and advising him to stand in line.
Following the viral spread of the video, criticism of the Divisional Commissioner's conduct began on social media. On Wednesday morning, Mobassher Ali, convenor of the National Citizen Party (NCP) Rajshahi metropolitan branch, also claimed in a Facebook post that the Divisional Commissioner was made OSD for attempting to embrace the Prime Minister by breaking protocol.
However, the government notification did not confirm any direct connection between the incident seen in the video and the decision to withdraw Yusuf Ali. Multiple attempts to contact him for his comments on the matter went unanswered.
