–Mainul Hosein :
Our government treated us as fools is justified. Otherwise, we would not have been entitled to a government bluffing their way and making us free a nation where election robbery is politics. Our job seeking educated people are a class by themselves apart from the people. The legitimacy of the government or respect for the rule of law is not their concern. They are the all time privileged ones. The VIPs.
After more than fifty years the USA has now turned its attention to Bangladesh and clamped sanctions on some highly placed police officers and army for careless violation of human rights.
The problem with America is that it is busy in establishing human rights in Russia and China where under communism human rights are not recognised ideologically, but ignored drastic human rights violations in respect of people who are struggling for democracy. Gun power dictatorship is emerging.
Tragically Bangladesh did not come to the US attention for too long. Lies survived and deception continued. Lives were lost most inhumanly. Even crippled judiciary could not remain silent.
After the sanctions for gross human rights violations for too long a time, the government’s “wise men” are shaken. The organisers of free killing are nervous and desperately trying to convince the US government that truths are lies.
The propaganda machine has distorted the statement of an important Senator as if he found nothing wrong in Bangladesh. Our embassy sources issued a jolly statement making the crisis worse for the government.
The Senator did not say anything in deviation of the sanctions. In his 26-minute speech the congressman has mentioned various issues of Bangladesh, including sanctions on RAB, 2018 national elections and gross human rights violation. He also spoke critically about the coming national elections to be held in 2023, adding the United States will closely monitor the election to see it as credible one. “We have already appointed a new ambassador for Bangladesh. After he joins, I will have an opportunity to work with him.”
Meeks also said that he would visit Bangladesh this year to see the human
rights situation and other issues. But those remarks were absent in our embassy’s media release issued from Washington DC. His speech has allegedly been presented partly and also wrongly .Meeks has been a US representative of Democratic Party from New York since 1998, and serving as the chair of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs since 2021.
As it is, without any purposeful intervention from international community, the government’s own structural discipline has been fractured. Our fear is, if change is not initiated towards building democracy through peaceful understanding of the gravity of the situation there will be terrible chaos and violence.
Whether sanctions are justified or not will have no impact by what the government committee members have to say. They will enjoy the foreign trip like so many other expensive foreign trips at public cost. This much we can vouch.
We are not even sure if they will get entry with visas obtained in Dhaka after fabricating the words of the Senator. In the USA the Senators are honestly elected and powerful.
It is a matter of record that at the outset we had Rakkhi Bahini for secret killing organised by the government. Then came BAKSAL revolutionary communist party type one party rule to deny us all rights. Even the judiciary ceased to exist outside party politics. BAKSAL faced the tragic end.
But the idea of arbitrary killing was not given up. Under a different garb another ferocious body called Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) was formed with power to kill without the need of following any process of law. We should remind that blaming those directly involved would not be enough.
There was no terrorism among our people in Pakistan. But Bangladesh was described as a dangerously terrorist country so much so life was nothing.
Our considered view is, if the government has any courage of honesty then it should invite the US Congress members on a fact finding mission. Let the talk to non partisan civil society members and others they like.
