According to a report published in a national daily on Tuesday, the British High Commissioner in Dhaka Robert Chatterton Dickson, Ambassador of Sweden Alexandra Berg von Linde, Ambassador of Switzerland Nathalie Chuard and First Secretary of the Canadian Embassy Maegan Andolfetto speaking at a programme organised by Manusher Jonno Foundation in Dhaka on Monday said this is not an easy time for human rights which are under pressure. Human rights will continue being a big part of our work in Bangladesh. This includes media freedom, equality in education, access to justice, accountable institutions, inclusiveness, diversity and tolerance as the markers of equal human rights for all. Democracy and human rights are indispensable for a peaceful society, but these are still issues of much concern in many countries across the globe, including Bangladesh.
Their countries support Bangladesh’s endeavours in strengthening institutions like those giving legal aid and upholding human rights. PM’s International Affairs Adviser Dr Gowher Rizvi who also spoke at the function agreed that they haven’t been able to achieve all human rights and they need help from all, especially for mobilising public opinion. He however said that an anti-discrimination act needs to be passed and a minority commission set up. Pointing to the pandemic disaster, educationists told the event that around 2 lakh students did not show up for the final exams this year in spite of registering for them and that 70 per cent of those absent were girls. We need to provide stipends to girls who were married off to get them back to schools, they said, urging the government to take steps in this regard.
The government should be accountable for upholding the spirit of rule of law and human rights. Bangladesh should follow the spirit of real democracy, while the human rights defender organisations must play fair with neutrality. Apart from these, the media should also play a very strong role to protect and promote human rights, rule of law and overall good governance. International actors have to do promotional work to put the country on track and ensure human rights. For this, free, fair, credible and competitive elections are a must and there is the need for an acceptable mechanism to hold credible elections.
