Govt lies about Donald Lu’s remarks during Dhaka visit: BNP

Staff Reporter :
The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has said that the government has been spreading lies by using the mass media regarding the issues of the US government’s stance on withdrawing the sanctions on Rapid Action Battalion.
But the statement issued by the US Embassy in Dhaka on Tuesday night made it clear that the ruling Awami League which has been alienated from the people is spreading lies, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said on Wednesday.
While talking to the journalists at a press conference in BNP’s party office at Gulshan, he said, “The government has forcefully used the mass media to address the people that the US government has changed
its stance and will scrap the sanction. But the US statement has made it clear that the government has taken recourse to falsehood.”
Sounding critical on the issue of spreading lie, Mirza Fakhrul said, “It is really shameful that as soon as the US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Donald Lu, left Dhaka, the government started spreading lies. But the US Embassy has protested it.”
Following the speech of Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal that the sanction on RAB will be lifted soon, the US Embassy in Dhaka on Tuesday said that Donald Lu did not give any timeframe for removal of sanctions on the elite force.
“During his meetings in Dhaka, Assistant Secretary Lu did not indicate a timeframe for the removal of RAB sanctions,” the US embassy’s spokesperson Jeff Ridenour said in the statement.
In the press conference the BNP Secretary General said, “How can the Awami League leaders say that the sanction will be withdrawn? He (Lu) did not say it.”
Regarding BNP’s stance about sanction, he said, “We are not delighted about sanctions. We have repeatedly said that this sanction is shameful. It is shameful for Bangladesh. Sanctions should have been imposed on the government. Such incidents of extrajudicial killing and enforced disappearance have happened at the behest of the government.”
“It is irrelevant whether the US government has imposed sanctions on the Bangladesh government. People of the country are giving sanctions on the government. And people will implement it in the upcoming days,” he added.
In reply to a query about BNP’s participation in the election, he said, “We have clearly said that we would not go for any election under this government. We believe that free, fair and participatory election will not be held under the current government led by the Prime Minister.”
About the establishment of democracy in the country, Mirza Fakhrul said, “We think democracy can never be established depending on foreign powers. It has been off and on reestablished through the power of the people.”
He further said that people of the country have risen up against the government and they are being united and peacefully venting their protest by overcoming all hurdles including repression and killing.
Pointing out the geo political situation in this region, the BNP Secretary General said, “The US, China, Russia and India have their geo political interest. What we have noticed is that the US has strongly expressed their commitment to democracy. They have talked about transparent, acceptable and participatory election.”
“The US has expressed their commitment to democracy and human rights and said that they will speak when they see problems and offer suggestions,” he pointed out.