State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam on Wednesday conveyed the government's displeasure over a joint statement issued by Western diplomats condemning an attack on Ashraful Hossen Alom, popularly known as Hero Alom, during this month's Dhaka-17 by-polls.
"We highlighted fundamental flaws in the statement and asked them to refrain from such activities in future," the state minister told the media after the meeting.
"We invited them. We are not calling it a summon... We summoned a UN official earlier."
He said when they issued the statement, police had made two arrests in connection with the attack, but they had not mentioned that. "The statement has many shortcomings. It was premature and hurriedly drafted."
"It is not an incident with which the whole election can be judged. None raised any allegations about irregularities during voting. Even Hero Alom cooperated with the police and said he was happy with the police response," Shahriar said.
"It is an isolated incident and is not reflective of the whole election," the state minister said, calling the statement "uncalled for and unnecessary." "We hope they will realize that and refrain from such undiplomatic behaviour," he added.
When asked about their response, the state minister said few of them had tried to explain that they had issued the statement for no other reason than to help the government as part of their continuous engagement with Dhaka.
"We reminded them of the Vienna Convention's Article 41, which clearly says they must obey the laws and regulations of the host country and not interfere in its internal affairs.
"Their first point of contact should be the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and our officers are always ready to respond to their needs.
"We appreciate their communication with the media, but according to the Vienna Convention, the first point of contact should be the foreign ministry."
The state minister continued: "MP-elect Prof Mohammad Ali Arafat was there at one point of the briefing. He clarified that he had condemned the attack immediately and asked the government to take action."
Shahriar said he had read out the government's position at the briefing and would send it to all embassies and their headquarters later.
He, however, said the briefing would not impact bilateral relations with these Western countries.
"We condemn the July 17 attack on Dhaka-17 constituency candidate Ashraful Alom," said high commissioners and ambassadors of the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland, and the delegation of the European Union in their joint statement on July 19.
All of them were called for a meeting at the state guesthouse Padma with the state minister.
The ambassadors entered the venue at around 3pm.
Journalists were not allowed inside the premises of the guest house.
The move comes days after the ministry summoned the UN resident coordinator in Bangladesh, Gwyn Lewis, over a tweet condemning the attack on Hero Alom. "The @UNinBangladesh is concerned over the attack on independent MP candidate Ashraful Alam during the Dhaka-17 by-poll. The fundamental human right of everyone to participate in elections without violence should be guaranteed and protected," she had tweeted.
Acting UN resident coordinator Sheldon Yett responded to the summon as Lewis was on vacation.
Foreign ministry officials expressed displeasure over the tweet to Yett at the time.
Following the assault on Hero Alom, an independent candidate in the by-election to the Dhaka-17 constituency, the United Nations, the European Union and a dozen countries condemned the attack and called for a full investigation.
Dhaka has been vocal about its displeasure over other countries commenting on Bangladesh's internal matters, with Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen on Friday saying diplomats and missions in Dhaka made a big deal out of every little thing that Bangladesh did or happened in the country.
"Nowhere else in the world do ambassadors become activists and comment on a country's internal issues as a group," the minister said.