President of the Press Club of India Gautam Lahiri has criticized the movement of Western diplomats in Bangladesh ahead of general elections while taking part in a discussion in Dhaka.
"Many diplomats would have been declared persona-non-grata if many of the things that are happening here happened in India," he said while speaking on "Election and Democracy: South Asian Perspective" at the National Press Club on Sunday.
"You will decide your election. We think it's not right to intervene in your internal affairs," he said.
A local think-tank Interaction for Development and Democracy of Bangladesh (IDDB) organized the discussion with the presence of visiting six Indian journalists.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam was present as the chief guest.
Former vice-chancellor of Chittagong University Prof Abdul Mannan, and President of the Editors' Guild Mozammel Babu spoke at the function, among others, moderated by Press Club General Secretary Shyamal Dutta.
The discussion was organized ahead of the January 7 election, which a major opposition, BNP, announced to boycott.
Western diplomats, particularly the US, have been making statements publicly on the election issues. US Ambassador Peter Haas was seen meeting all the major political parties with a letter from his boss Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu calling for dialogue between the parties.
Gautam Lahiri, who travels to Bangladesh frequently, commended the "unprecedented development" in Bangladesh and said: "Today we have experienced that first hand".
He came to the National Press Club after visiting the new international airport Terminal-3 via metro rail.
"It's remarkable work. It will definitely change Bangladesh a lot," he said.
"I have experienced a huge traffic from airport to press club in the previous visits. But today I came to the press club in about 20 minutes," he said.
He said in India it is the people who decide the election. Those who lose elections are naturally dissatisfied initially, but they do not reject the election.
"The Election Commission conducts the elections. The government maintains routine works. We can proudly say that India didn't have any military government, or any military backed government since its birth in 1947.
"In our neighbour Pakistan, you see they have a caretaker government system. But would you accept Pakistan as a successful government?" he said.
"If you believe in parliamentary democracy, you have to take part in participatory elections. Those who don't obey the constitution, they will boycott elections. In India, we have Maoists who believe in capturing India by overthrowing the government, not by taking part in the election..they don't believe in the constitution."
"What Bangladesh will do it's up to the people of Bangladesh to decide. Indian policy is not to interfere in the third country's affairs," he said.
"With Bangladesh we now have a model relationship that our foreign minister also speaks about."
From his experience in travelling to every corner of Bangladesh as a journalist, Gautam Lahiri, however, said that for ruling Awami League, the challenge is within the party, not the outsider.
"I find people have confidence in the Awami League. They don't see alternatives, but they don't like the activity of the MP of their local constituency," he said.