The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has summoned
the heads of 13 missions for giving a statement regarding the attack on
independent candidate Ashraful Alam (Hero Alam) in the Dhaka-17 by-election.
Ministry sources confirmed this information to Bonik Barta.
Diplomatic sources said government displeasure will
be expressed to the Mission chiefs. They will be informed that Bangladesh does
not like the idea of that joint statement. The mission heads also might share
their reactions.
Meanwhile, some of the former ambassadors of
Bangladesh have expressed mixed reactions to the summons. Some said that the
joint release of the statement without knowing the true picture of the attack
and without directly discussing it with the government was a clear violation of
the Vienna Convention. So it is fair and proper to summon them in this regard.
Although Bangladesh has always been flexible with foreign ambassadors and heads
of missions, the government's firmness has been shown by summoning them. Others
said that the government needs to be aware of the timing and issues of
assertiveness.
Some of the diplomats think that the Bangladesh
government needs to take some things into consideration. For example,
ambassadors make statements as representatives of their countries and with the
consent of their governments. Countries that have made statements are organized
countries. Their diplomacy is much more organized. Communication between their
headquarters and missions is quite active. They can be taken to mean that the
statement has the support of their respective countries.
When asked, former ambassador Munsi Faiz Ahmed said,
"The joint statement of the ambassadors is very humiliating and defamatory
for us, it is against the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations, they must
be stopped. There is no point for a joint statement. They are also prohibited
from making uniform public statements on internal matters of a state. They at
best can advise us. They can tell us if they think we've done something wrong,
but they have to follow the protocols. They have to express their opinion
through the channels that are available in diplomatic manners. The government
should show more firmness in such incidents. The government has not shown
enough firmness in the past few days. Many times foreign ambassadors have taken
advantage of that.''
Dhaka-17 by-election was held on July 17. Hero Alam
was thrashed outside a polling station in Banani shortly before the end of
polling. Gwen Lewis, Bangladesh's United Nations Resident Coordinator, tweeted
on July 18 expressing concern over the incident. Later, the heads of 11 missions,
including the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union in
Dhaka, strongly condemned the incident.
The signatories to the statement are Canada,
Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States, and the European Union delegations
in Bangladesh. The statement said, we strongly condemn the attack on Ashraful
Alam, the candidate of Dhaka-17 seat on July 17. Violence has no place in the
democratic process. We demand full investigation and accountability of the
culprits. We call on all concerned to ensure that the upcoming elections are
free, fair and peaceful.
It should be noted that US Ambassador Peter Haas,
British High Commissioner Sarah Cook, Canadian High Commissioner Lily Nicholas,
Danish Ambassador Winnie Strupp Petersen, French Ambassador Marie Masdupui,
German Ambassador Achim Troster, Italian Ambassador Enrico Nunziata,
Netherlands Ambassador Anne Van Leeuwen, Norwegian Ambassador Espen Ricketer
Vendsen, Spanish Ambassador Francisco de Assiter are the Heads of Mission in
Dhaka. So Benitez Salas, Ambassador of Sweden Alexandra Berg von Linde,
Ambassador of Switzerland Reto Rengli, and Ambassador of the European Union
Charles Whiteley are representing the respective missions.
UN Resident Representative Gwen Lewis was summoned
on July 20 amid the diplomats' response. Acting Chief and UNICEF Country
Director Sheldon Yate appeared on behalf of Gwen Lewis at the Foreign Service
Academy. Asad Alam Siam, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs expressed dissatisfaction on behalf of the government.
Before summoning Gwen Lewis on July 19, Foreign
Minister Dr. AK Abdul Momen expressed his displeasure to the journalists about
the statement of the embassies. He said, 'I want to question our activist
diplomats, do they ever give a statement when people are killed in New York,
USA? Has the UN ever given a statement? Why do people die in America? Faisal, a
Bengali boy died, it's been so long. What did they say, what did the UN say,
how far is the investigation going? Did ambassadors give statements in unison? Why
don't you ask? How many people die every day in different countries, then why
they do not give a statement? When anything happens in Bangladesh they make all
that hue and cry. Is it a Magher Mulluk? That's not acceptable.'
