In a rare retraction on Friday, the President House withdrew a press statement that had linked the cancellation of a customary Saturday event at Rashtrapati Bhavan to the visit of Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman.Rahman’s visit is yet to be confirmed, with Bangladesh insisting on former prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s extradition before the visit can be scheduled.The first statement from Rashtrapati Bhavan, titled “NO CHANGE OF GUARD CEREMONY THIS SATURDAY”, said: “The Change of Guard Ceremony at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan will not take place this Saturday (August 22, 2026) due to the full rehearsal for the ceremonial welcome of the Prime Minister of Bangladesh.”It was issued at 2:13 pm on Thursday. However, at 3:28 pm, a retraction was issued stating: “The press release issued on the subject ‘No Change of Guard Ceremony this Saturday’ on August 21, 2026, stands withdrawn.”Both statements were issued by Navika Kumar, Deputy Press Secretary to the President.The Tribune has learnt that Rashtrapati Bhavan retracted the statement after the Ministry of External Affairs flagged it, in view of the visit of Tarique Rahman not having been confirmed.Under the laid-down protocol, the Ceremonial Division of Rashtrapati Bhavan issues public notices regarding changes in scheduled customary events, such as the cancellation of the Change of Guard ceremony held every Saturday.This public notice is shared with the press section of Rashtrapati Bhavan for dissemination to the media. The same drill is learnt to have been followed on Thursday as well.How the ceremonial division got the part about the Bangladesh Prime Minister’s visit wrong is not clear.In the past too, public notices have been issued by Rashtrapati Bhavan linking cancellations of customary events with impending state visits of world leaders.