Government protests against The Economist’s report

The government has protested against an article published on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in The Economist on June 3, a Bangla Tribune report said. The Bangladeshi ambassador in London has recently sent a letter to the newspaper protesting the issue, the report said. According to a press statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangladesh, the claim made about the prime minister and the government “pandering to the demands of Islamist agitators and refusing to defend the secular principles of the constitution” is completely erroneous. The statement said even though the prime minister is a Muslim, she or her government is secular, and the government has permitted madrasa students to come under the democratic system. According to The Economist article, “she [Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina] has pursued a dogged vendetta against her main rival for the job of prime minister, Khaleda Zia, hounding her supporters and persecuting her party.” However, the press statement said that the prime minister has not targeted her political opposition, and her government is determined to remain lawful where only proven criminals are vindicated.