Top official cancels Khaleda meet; urges international investors to stay with Bangladesh
US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman Monday said Bangladesh must end the tradition of election-year violence as it faces the challenges of the future.
“To truly prosper, Bangladesh must free itself from this long-standing cycle of election-year violence,” she said in a speech on “A Partnership Without Boundaries: US-Bangladesh Relations” at a hotel in the city’s capital.
Sherman arrived in Dhaka on Sunday, to attend the second Bangladesh-US partnership dialogue in the midst of a BNP-enforced dawn-to-dusk hartal.
She said she was surprised, and regretted that a general strike marked the first day of the dialogue.
“I worry about a cycle of violence that shuts down a city of millions on what seems like a daily basis, and dramatically slows Bangladesh’s economic growth,” she said.
Sherman cancelled her meeting with BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia on Monday because of the shutdown.
“The under secretary regretted that a hartal marked the first day of the US-Bangladesh partnership dialogue, and subsequent schedule changes precluded her call on the [BNP] chairperson,” said Kelly McCarthy, press and information officer of the US Embassy in Dhaka.
In response to a question on the cancellation, Sherman told reporters, that her schedule required the changes. She met the opposition leader last time she was in Dhaka and was rather surprised that enforcement of a hartal was underway on Sunday.
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia also did not meet Indian President Pranab Mukherjee during his visit to Dhaka in March.
When contacted, BNP Vice-Chairman Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury, himself a former foreign secretary, told the Dhaka Tribune: “It is nothing new. In 2003, the US secretary of state Colin Powell visited Bangladesh and he cancelled his meeting with the then opposition leader Sheikh Hasina as the Awami League called a hartal during his visit.
“On another occasion, the Indonesian president also cancelled her meeting with Hasina in 2003 for the same reason.”
The US under secretary said people had the right to express their views but violence was not acceptable.
“Although the United States believes strongly that people should be able to march, demonstrate, and speak their minds, we do not believe violence is acceptable in a democratic society as a way to make your political views known,” said Sherman.
“My colleagues and I, along with a great many Bangladeshis, have watched with dismay as the streets of Dhaka have been shut down by hartal after hartal, by angry demonstration after angry demonstration.”
“I cannot presume to tell the people of Bangladesh what approach your country must take as it faces the grave challenges of the future. In Bangladesh, as in any democracy, this is for the people alone to decide,” she said.
On the upcoming elections in Bangladesh, the under secretary said Washington wanted to see an inclusive, free, fair and credible election.
She made it clear it was up to the Bangladeshi people to decide on the election-period mechanism. “It is appropriate that you make your own decision about your destiny.”
Labour rights
Sherman said Washington urged international investors not to turn their back on Bangladesh in the backdrop of the twin tragedies – the collapse of Rana Plaza and the fire at Tazreen Fashions.
“We are encouraging international investors not to turn their back on Bangladesh, because the solution is reform, not withdrawal,” she said, adding that the Bangladesh government, the US and the private sectors of both the countries were working together to resolve the crisis.
“Ultimately, success will depend on the will and commitment of the industry, government, civil society, and every Bangladeshi to come together to change the culture of workplace safety and worker’s rights in Bangladesh.”
Enforcing robust labour standards is the responsibility of the government, she said.
“We hope that out of the grief and debris of Rana Plaza, out of the ashes and pain of the Tazreen Fashions and Smart factory fires before it, you can chart a new way forward; that you can build a national consensus on how to improve the lives of workers – indeed the lives of all citizens – in Bangladesh,” she said.
Source: DhakaTribune