Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has rejected allegations that Bangladesh's democracy and rule of law are being undermined by her increasingly authoritarian behaviour and by extensive human rights abuses by the law enforcement agencies.
In an exclusive interview with British newspaper The Guardian, the premier also dismissed accusations that numerous extra-judicial killings, “enforced disappearances,” mass arrests of opposition activists and Islamists, and imposing new restrictions on media and internet freedoms were turning the world’s third largest Muslim nation into a repressive, de facto one-party state.
“My job is to assist the common people,” the newspaper quoted Hasina as saying.
“I do politics for the people, not for me … People are enjoying democracy now. What people want is their basic needs. So I’m trying to help people ensure their basic need, that means food security, healthcare, education, and job opportunity and a better life.
“By 2021 Bangladesh will be a middle-income country and by 2041 Bangladesh will be a developed country … All the democratic institutions are working and people are satisfied and people are enjoying it. So the way you say I am dominating, I am not dominating. I am serving people.”
She also rejected claims that Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) were beyond constitutional or parliamentary control.
On the issue of press freedom, Hasina said her ruling Awami League government had allowed an unprecedented expansion in privately controlled television channels, newspapers and online media since the 1990s.
“Who brought the change? It is me. I opened it up,” she said
“Who brought the change? It is me. I opened it up,” she told The Guardian.
“Now we have 41 private television channels [and] altogether nearly 700 newspapers all over the country. So they’re writing and they’re totally free. And NGOs are also working according to the rules and law they have.”
Hasina also claimed that the BNP had shot itself in the foot by boycotting last year’s national polls, which the Awami League and its minor party allies subsequently won by default.
“[Khaleda] made a political mistake not to participate in the election,” Hasina said, accusing her opponent of supporting terrorism and launching killing sprees across Bangladesh.
The liberal British newspaper asserted that Hasina used public fears about terrorism to smear political opponents and justify harsh action against them. It also said despite her strong stance, she has failed to curb an ongoing, nationwide Islamist revival linked to similar movements in Pakistan and the Middle East – and is losing the “battle of ideas” with militant Islam.
In her last words, Hasina said: “In our country we practise democracy like your Westminster type of democracy, so as long as people want, I will be there. If they do not, OK, fine. Whether I’m in power or not, I’ll work for the people, and I’m doing it.”
