State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam on Tuesday said the government had unmasked some people including a section of civil society and their political intentions through the recent visit of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet.
“We believe in engagement. We are committed and we have enough goodwill (to look into human rights issues). We can prove it,” he told the reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"It is too low and mean of some people who sought her intervention in terms of the election," he added.
The state minister said people who are spreading misinformation and sought the UN rights chief’s intervention during her visit are actually helping the anti-Awami League political platform (BNP-Jamaat).
“It’s an evil effort to malign the government,” the minister observed.
He claimed that the BNP and Jamaat with their people at home and abroad have been spreading misinformation continuously.
The state minister further said that he was surprised to see some people raising issues which go beyond the UN human rights chief’s mandate. “Those people do not have adequate knowledge on how the UN system operates.”
He described those efforts as objectionable.
Shahriar said Bachelet made it clear during her meeting with a section of civil society that it is not within her mandate to address the demands related to the next national election in Bangladesh.
He said the UN human rights chief understood where these people came from and what their intention was.
The state minister, however, said the government has great respect for the civil society for its role in various areas while a section of it has a political intention.
Shahriar said the so-called opposition parties have a big “misperception and misconception” that their many demands will be met once they raise the issues with the UN human rights chief. “They live in a fool's paradise.”
The state minister said Bachelet did not meet the opposition leaders but engaged her colleague to talk to them.
Earlier, the government of Bangladesh invited the UN high commissioner for Human Rights.
She hoped her visit would build on the government’s engagement with the UN’s human rights mechanisms and help deepen cooperation with us, furthering the promotion and protection of human rights in Bangladesh.
In Dhaka, she met with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, ministers - foreign affairs, home affairs, law, and education - and other officials.
For all the significant human rights challenges ahead – economic, climate-related, political, social and humanitarian – she was convinced that if the powerful resources within the whole society are harnessed, and policies and responses are crafted with the participation of many diverse voices, Bangladesh will continue to shine brighter in its remarkable development journey.
