Staff Reporter :
The incumbent government is still in power at the mercy of India, appearing from the recent statement made by the Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen.
“The foreign minister did not even modify his statement, instead backed it up with another one. Those who seek shelter to other countries have no right to rule this country,” BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said this during a human chain programme organised by the University Teachers Association of Bangladesh (UTAB) in front of the Jatiya Press Club on Saturday morning.
The demonstration was held to protest against load sheddings, fuel price hike, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and for the immediate release of BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia.
Demanding a proper explanation of the foreign minister’s controversial statement, Fakhrul said adding “This government has come to power through vote rigging. They have zero connection with the people. They have destroyed the sovereignty of the country.”
Fakhrul claimed that the government allowed the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet to come to Bangladesh on the occasion of the upcoming general elections.
Earlier, the UN human rights delegation, which wanted to come to Bangladesh, was refused entry, he added.
“They [the government] granted the UN rights chief’s visit as the national polls are near. But each of her programmes was monitored. She was not allowed to speak with the victims of enforced disappearance,” the BNP leader said.
According to Fakhrul, “Not so much importance was given when we raised the issue of enforced disappearances earlier. But the matter received international attention when the UN addressed it in their annual human rights report.”
Earlier on August 18, Foreign Minister Momen, while addressing a Janmashtami programme in JM Sen Hall in Chattogram said he had requested the Indian government to do whatever was necessary to help Bangladesh maintain stability and harmony.
“When I went to New Delhi, I told the Indian government that Sheikh Hasina must be sustained. Bangladesh will continue to march towards development and will truly become a country free of communalism under her leadership,” Momen said.
The foreign minister, however, claimed that his statement came out wrongly in the media. He has also alleged that the speech has been spread on purpose.
