'Why journalist Haider's passport not renewed?'

The High Court has issued a rule as to why expatriate Bangladeshi journalist in the US Monir Haider's passport shall not be renewed.

The court made the rule following a writ petition filed by younger brother Nazrul Islam Khokon challenging non-issuance of renewed passport of Haider.

A High Court bench, in its interim order, asked the Directorate of Immigration and Passport to submit a report within 10 days detailing the latest situation of the Monir Haider's application for the passport.

The HC bench of justice Syed Muhammad Dastagir Husain and justice Md Ataur Rahman Khan passed the order.

Senior lawyer Manzil Murshid stood for Monir Haider in the hearing.

He told the court that every citizen has the right to get a passport.

Manzil Murshid said Monir Haider, who now lives in New York, with due process applied for the renewal of his passport at Bangladesh Consulate General in New York in September 2017. But he was not given passport within the stipulated time, the lawyer said adding he was also not notified why his passport was not delivered as yet.

In a letter to the consul general in November, Manzil Murshid said his client wanted to know the latest status of his application for passport.

As he was not given any reply, his younger brother Nazrul Islam Khokon filed the writ petition with the High Court recently.

Before his migration to the United States of America in March of 2014, then a deputy editor of Bangla daily tabloid 'Manab Zamin', Monir Haider took part in talk shows at different private television channels.