Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Monday said Bangladesh will not accept “any model” for democracy imposed by any countries, and that the government believes all should maintain “due process” to meet any ambassadors in Dhaka.
“We believe in due process,” he said when asked about the recent incident with US Ambassador in Dhaka Peter Hass. “We don’t have any culture to submit a memorandum to an ambassador just anywhere,” the minister said.
The embassy, after the incident said, the Ambassador ended his pre-scheduled meeting with ‘Mayer Dak’ on December 14 due to “security concerns”.
“The meeting was interrupted by protestors, who attempted to enter the building where the Ambassador was located. Other protestors surrounded the Ambassador’s vehicle. We have raised this matter at the highest levels of the Bangladeshi government, as well as with the Bangladesh Embassy in Washington, D.C. Human rights are at the center of U.S. foreign policy.
Therefore, the U.S. Embassy takes seriously all allegations of human rights violations and regularly meets with a wide variety of human rights organizations.
“The U.S. Embassy had not received any prior communication from Mayer Kanna over the last several years,” read the statement of the US embassy.
Mayer Kanna is a platform of family members of victims of enforced disappearances during General Ziaur Rahman, the first military dictator of Bangladesh, regime.
Awaiting for justice for over four decades, victims of those freedom fighters who later joined armed forces but executed under the rule Gen Zia, the founder of BNP, sought intervention of US ambassador Peter Hass for bringing the culprits to book.
Replying to a question, the foreign minister said there is no such culture in Bangladesh that you submit a memorandum to an ambassador just anywhere.
“We don’t encourage that,” he said.
“Why did they (Mayer Kanna) do that, ask them,” he said, replying to another question.
He, however, said the foreign ministry had no knowledge about the visit of the US ambassador to a private house in a crowded place like Shahinbagh in Dhaka.
Replying to a question on whether Western countries are running any soft campaign against the government?
“It depends on perception,” the foreign minister said, adding that many will try to suppress Bangladesh as the country is doing well.
“If you want to hold on (to a country), you have to create some members there, to create instability,” he said, “unrest destroys a country”.
He gave the example of Libya which was once a rich country, but later turned into a battleground of different forces.
“They didn't even take out a loan. Now it all ends due to instability.”
“They (West) can see that we are doing well. So, (they’ll try) stop us. It’s nothing new. It's a historical practice. The powerful countries do this. Some local people join them...it's like shooting on your own feet.
“They have some intentions, targets. Another thing is they always think that others will emulate them. We always say that one model does not fit in all contexts. It varies from country to country.
“They think that their model is right. So they try to impose it,” the minister said, referring to the rich countries.
“We don’t believe in such impositions. That’s why they put pressure on us. There are merits and demerits in every model. They want their model (to be followed by all).”
He, however, said Bangladesh has “close relations” with the Western countries.
“Our relationship with them is very close. Their relationship with us is very good. Because of which they can tell us a lot,” he said.
“It is not the responsibility of the foreign ministry alone to prevent instability - it is the responsibility of all countrymen. Not only our responsibility.”