President Mohammad Sahabuddin has claimed that he was deliberately prevented from participating in official international events during his tenure, asserting that the then-government sought to sideline him from the global stage. In an exclusive interview with Kaler Kantho at Bangabhaban last Friday evening, the President described several instances in which invitations from foreign nations were obstructed.

According to the President, he was aware of at least two invitations from foreign governments, including one from Kosovo. In December of the previous year, he was invited to present a keynote paper at an assembly in Kosovo. However, he was not permitted to attend the event.

A subsequent invitation came from the Amir of Qatar to participate in an exclusive summit, where the President was expected to deliver a speech. Mohammad Sahabuddin alleges that a different strategy was applied in this case. He claims that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent him a draft letter, allegedly prepared by ministry officials, stating that he was “extremely busy with urgent state affairs” and therefore unable to attend the summit. He says he was pressured to sign the letter without prior consultation and was simultaneously provided with a copy of the invitation.

The President emphasised that he only became aware of the original invitation from Qatar after receiving the draft letter, and he questioned the official rationale, asking whether the state’s constitutional framework truly allows a President to be so preoccupied that he cannot attend an international summit. In response, he returned a corrected letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, marking it with a question and criticising the ministry’s conduct as discourteous and arrogant, while warning against similar behaviour in the future. He stated that he never received a reply and was left uninformed about any subsequent foreign invitations.

Beyond international travel, Mohammad Sahabuddin claims that he was also barred from attending various key domestic events, including university convocations, a practice long considered a state tradition.

He believes that the primary purpose of preventing his overseas visits was to obscure his name and identity on the international stage. “The government did not want my name to be mentioned anywhere or for the public to recognise me,” he said, adding that this deliberate sidelining caused him significant distress.

Key International Invitations Reported