Dhaka: Elections in Bangladesh were not free and fair, the government and the apologetic party Awami League are not paying attention to the report of the United States State Department citing various issues including extrajudicial killings, disappearances, obstruction of free expression. Policy makers of Awami League and government are complaining that it is biased and part of US practices.
According to Awami League and government policy makers, the United States has always opposed and criticized the Awami League government. The country’s government will also criticize the Awami League government in the future. They think that this State Department report on human rights is part of it.
According to the recently published report of the United States State Department on the human rights situation in Bangladesh, the 2018 elections were not free and fair, including extrajudicial killings, disappearances, and obstruction of free expression.
When asked about this, Awami League presidium member and Jatiya Sangsad deputy leader Matia Chowdhury told Banglanews that these are their habits. They have been saying these things, they have said a lot, they will say a lot. It is better to ignore them. They mean to let us know that we exist. At that time he said, ‘Like the story of the cow, the cow was eating grass when a doe sat on its horns. After some time Das says if you have difficulty I will get up. Then the cow said, I don’t know you were here. If their words are caught, then they cannot move forward. What happened in their country, if the words of Trump (former President Donald Trump) are taken.
Meanwhile, government ministers and Awami League leaders have raised various questions about this report of the US State Department. They also raised questions about the means of data collection for this report. They alleged that information was taken from anti-government sources. They said the information in the report was taken from an organization that had political affiliations in the past.
The government ministers and Awami League leaders have raised questions regarding the complaints about the elections in the report referring to the events that happened in the last elections in the United States. Some have even commented that the US should look into the matter themselves.
In an event on Tuesday, Obaidul Quader said that votes were stolen in the presidential election in the United States. The president himself has made this allegation about the US election malpractices. Don’t you see them? Democracy is flawed in the countries of the world. We have not forgotten that five fresh lives were lost on Capitol Hill under Donald Trump.
Questioning this report, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam told reporters that they were supposed to give us an opportunity to defend themselves before preparing the report, but they did not do it. The US report has taken this information from open sources, one of which is ‘Adhikar’. This organization has had political affiliations in the past.
Information Minister and Joint General Secretary of Awami League told reporters that the issues raised in the US report related to human rights, elections and democracy are biased. Hasan Mahmud. He said, they have collected the information from various anti-government and biased sources. Certainly not rejecting the entire report, as there are many good points to be made. However, there is bias in matters related to human rights, elections and democracy.
However, Awami League leaders said that Sheikh Hasina’s government is working, taking the country forward and will continue to ignore these criticisms of the United States.
In this regard, Matia Chowdhury told Banglanews that despite these obstacles, Bangladesh is moving forward and will move forward. Our leader (Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina) is taking the country forward. They also lied about Padma Bridge. They should have understood after the implementation of Padma Setu.
Bangladesh Time: 1043 hours, March 23, 2023
SK/SIS
