The parliaments of the European Union and Britain have urged political leaders in Bangladesh to work together to strengthen the democratic system and shun political violence.
European Union parliament adopted a resolution on Thursday, urging the BNP to distance itself from Jamaat-e-Islami and Hefazat-e-Islam, while emphasising shunning of political violence in Bangladesh and an urgent consensus between the major parties here.
During a debate in the UK parliament on Thursday British Minister for Europe David Lidington said all political parties in Bangladesh shared a clear and unequivocal responsibility to work together to strengthen democratic accountability as an urgent priority.
Put forward by six political groups, the resolution also called on Bangladesh government to halt all repressive acts and release opposition politicians.
Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina has repeatedly urged the BNP to leave Jamaat, which wanted to foil the birth of Bangladesh in 1971 and collaborated with the Pakistani occupation army.
Jamaat and Its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir are widely blamed for killing policemen, ordinary people and activists of other parties, including the Awami League, in recent years.
This is the first time that a group of foreign politicians has come up with a call to the BNP for severing ties with communal forces such as Jamaat and Hefazat.
The EU parliament stressed that “parties which turn to terrorist acts should be banned.”
“[It] urges the BNP to unequivocally distance itself from Jamaat-e-Islami and Hafezat-e-Islam,” the resolution said.
The BNP has maintained an alliance with Islamist political party Jamaat for more than a decade, calling it a “strategic partner.”
In recent times, the BNP also tried to use Hefazat to topple the government.
The EU parliament regretted that the political parties in Bangladesh could not agree on an inclusive mechanism for an election. It said it believed that all options should be considered, including an early election if all legitimate political parties were willing to stand and offer voters a choice.
It called on the government to immediately halt all repressive methods used by the security forces, including indiscriminate firing with live ammunition and torture in custody.
The EU parliament urged that “prompt, independent and transparent investigations be carried out into the recent cases of violent deaths before and after the elections, and that the perpetrators, including those in the security services, be brought to justice.”
War Crimes Trial
The EU parliament acknowledged that the International Crimes Tribunal had played an important role in providing redress and closure for the victims of and those affected by Bangladesh’s war of independence.
It, however, expressed concern at the increasing number of people on death row in Bangladesh as the
tribunal had pronounced death sentences of six individuals and at the sentencing to death of 152 soldiers over the bloody mutiny in the erstwhile BDR in 2009.
“[It] calls on the government and the parliament to abolish the death penalty and to commute all death sentences; calls also on the authorities to urgently set up an effective mechanism to protect witnesses in cases before the [war crimes tribunal].”
The EU parliament also called on the government “to revise the Information and Communication Technology Act and the Anti-Terrorism Act, which were made more stringent under the last government and can lead to the arbitrary criminalisation of citizens.”
Debate in UK parliament
The British government earlier urged all Bangladeshi political parties to look actively for solutions through dialogue, not political harassment and violence.
“Our commitment to that intensive dialogue will continue,” Lidington said during the debate participated by about 20 MPs.
On reviewing aid programmes, he said Britain should not restrict aid as it would penalise the poor people in Bangladesh.
“We must not let our dissatisfaction with the political situation in Bangladesh lead us to decide to restrict aid in ways that penalise some of the poorest people on the planet, who are not responsible for decisions taken by Bangladesh’s party political leaders,” Lidington said.