I am obliged to refer to a letter by the Coalition for Human
Rights & Democracy in Bangladesh (CHRD Bangladesh) to Donald Lu US
Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs. CHRD has appreciated sincere and commendable works during visit of
Donald Lu to Bangladesh on January 14-15, 2023.
It has also referred to its earlier letter dated January 08,
2023, emphasizing the importance of Donald’s visit in view of the ongoing
volatile political situation generated by the anti-democratic practices by the
administration of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the face of the people’s
countrywide movements against her rule.
The people are seeking the end of her fascist regime, which
they call illegal because it continued to capture power since 2009 through
massive election fraud. Bangladeshis want free and fair elections under a
neutral authority. We look forward to the materialization of your objectives at
the soonest.
The CHRD Bangladesh may take this opportunity to highlight a
few core foreign policy objectives of the US administration: Human Rights,
Freedom of the Opposition’s Political Activities and Election Integrity.
Human Rights Human rights still remain a far cry in Bangladesh.
The regime apparently maintained a slight pause in its repressing activities
during your visit, but intensified them on the people and the opposition
immediately afterwards, as if in retaliation of the pressure of your visit.
The human rights violations by the notorious Rapid Action
Battalion (RAB) and police might have shown slight improvements since the US
sanctions in December 2021, but their routine abuses against the people
continued unabated, much of which perhaps escaped the attention of the
monitoring agencies.
On January 21, 2023, a RAB member in Dhaka was caught trying
to rob a car carrying passengers coming from overseas. Few people can talk,
much less criticize, the regime under the draconian Digital Security Act (DSA).
They continue to be severely penalized for mild words
against the Sheikh family and the ruling elites.
In Bangladesh today, only the ruling Awami League has the
freedom of activities which include extortion, social crimes and attacks on the
political opposition. The opposition parties have little or restricted political
activities (lately as prescribed by the ruling authority).
The RAB, police and the party thugs continue to flex their
muscles against the opposition and prevent or disrupt their peaceful gatherings
and activities. Their attacks on the party gatherings of the Bangladesh
Nationalist Party (BNP) on December 07 and 08, 2022 sent many to their graves,
hospitals and jails. Even during your team’s presence in Dhaka on January
14-15, 2023, their terror acts continued on the peaceful gatherings of the
opposition in Mymensingh, Chittagong and other cities, sending many to
hospitals and jails with multiple charges against each.
Reportedly, 24,000 members of the BNP have been taken to
custody since early December of 2022. As of now, tens of thousands of them are
in jails, booked under about 3.5 million fictitious charges.
With the scrapping of the election-time Caretaker Government
(CTG) by Sheikh Hasina immediately upon becoming the Prime Minister, the
election system in Bangladesh totally collapsed. It became a symbol of
heightened corruption and irregularities. No national or local level election
had an iota of fairness or honesty.
Everything was controlled and managed by the ruling coterie
to make its chosen candidates the winners. As such, as you may note, Sir, the
representatives in the parliament, as well as the elected positions in the
local bodies, almost entirely belong to the ruling class. In other words, the
opposition has no say in any of these forums or anywhere. Any future elections
to be free and fair, the existence of these fraudulently elected partisan elements
will be a serious blockade.
The Election Commission and the election officials are
carefully selected by the government to serve its purpose. With absolute
control on the administration down to the lowest levels, including the election
apparatus, the opposition is either unable or not allowed to make any
electioneering activities or have its presence at the polls.
In many cases, suspected opposition voters were driven away
by the Awami League thugs and their votes were proxied in favor of the ruling
candidates. In addition, rounding up and sending the opposition leaders and
activists to jails prior to elections had been routine tasks of the loyal RAB
and police.
The results of the past 14 years are before anyone to
examine and judge. Consequently, the country has fallen into a one-party
authoritarian dictatorship since 2009. Under the chosen Election Commission,
election officials and its fraudulently elected local bodies, the general
public has no chance to exercise its free franchise during the polls.
As such, a fair and credible election under the present
administration is a simple impossibility. The US may also ponder why the
Hasina regime is vehemently opposed to elections under a CTG (citing
constitutionality of her own vicious creation).
According to most observers, the ruling government is so
unpopular and detested by the people that it has no chance of winning even a
comfortable number of seats, let alone winning in a fair election. In view of
the above situation, and with a view to ensuring credible elections in
Bangladesh, the following steps are extremely essential:
Elections must be held under a neutral Caretaker Government,
members of which should not be allowed to seek any elected positions.
Prior to that, the government should step down and the parliament be dissolved.
They (immediate past government) should have no role in the CTG.
The Election Commission and other election related officials
should be reconstituted with neutral and non-partisan elements.
All controversial and partisan officials in the
administration, including law enforcement agencies and the military should be
removed. Even known partisan officials in the judiciary should also be either
removed or suspended. This is needed to ensure the neutrality of the
election-time administration.
All authoritarian tools, such as the RAB and DSA should be
suspended during the elections.
Honorable Sir, it may be appreciated that if the people of
Bangladesh can freely choose their representatives to run the government, most
of the other problematic issues like democracy, human rights, freedom,
corruption etc. will be resolved automatically. Under a corruption-free and
accountable government, the country will be expected to move forward to greater
progress and security, both locally and globally. It is the unelected or
fraudulently elected or illegal regime that causes problems for the people and
the world.
Finally, unless the future elections in Bangladesh are
credible, fair and participatory, all the sincere efforts of the US will end in
futility. The CHRD Bangladesh certainly does not desire such an outcome from
your visit, Honorable Sir.
