Who asked that question?

The British media is particularly keen on Bangladesh, it seems. The reasons being that the British media had a major role in swaying world opinion in favour of Bangladesh during our 1971 Independence War, London being the largest bilateral aid donor for Dhaka, and the presence of a rather large Bangladeshi diaspora there. That diaspora is increasingly making a mark in politics, business, and is taking up more white-collar jobs. Although, we see very few of them in the mainstream English media. Having served as a spokesperson for the Dhaka government in London between May 2015 and September 2017, I had surprises waiting for me during my brief stint. The first was about the 2014 general elections and why BNP was “left out.” I was not shocked, and understood that the huge campaign by the opposition party and its anti-liberation ally, the Jamaat, had not been corrected or explained properly by those responsible. When I became the first Bangladeshi in 46 years to become a member of the London Press Club, the surprise came as many of its members did not even know that there was a Bangladesh High Commission in London, set aside an assigned spokesman. I faced the typical hurdles in joining the club due to high membership fees. But I got through like a “bad boy” (as I have been termed by the bureaucrats, I learned). I explained to the British scribes that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had welcomed Khaleda Zia to join the election-time interim government, with offers to give them charge of the most important Home and Local Government ministries. I highlighted how our prime minister was insulted by BNP chief Khaleda Zia when she telephoned her to convince her to join the elections. Then came the horrific killings of innocent people by keeping them hostage to unseat the government. The dead included infants, while many were left maimed. The photographs seemed to have convinced them finally.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has had enough reasons to be irritated with such questions as she has gone to great lengths to make friends with the opposition

But questions persisted on Bangladesh’s democracy as BNP was kept out of the polls. What “kept out”? Who said anything about anyone being “kept out”? What would anyone else have done in our PM’s place, given her situation? No solid answer. You cannot force anybody to join the polls in a democracy -- and we have a working parliament. Victory was mine. Which is why I was surprised when the PM was asked a similar question on the BNP’s joining of the next general elections, telling the premier what she should do to bring the BNP to the fray. The last question in the presser seemed outrageous, and the journalist should not have been given the microphone when the premier had closed the press conference on return from Cambodia. If we ask her these questions, especially aspirants rumoured to be lobbying or conspiring to go to London, how can we expect to defend our country and our prime minister? Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has had enough reasons to be irritated with such questions, as she has gone to great lengths to make friends with the opposition -- but she has been shown the door since 1991. The Constitution cannot be changed just because BNP wants it. Why not give importance to the fact that, if BNP’s desire to change the Constitution is important, then definitely, the ruling Awami League’s stance is equal, if not more important. Therefore, the national press has to keep in mind that such questions gives credence to the opposition’s claims abroad and damages Sheikh Hasina’s hard work to strengthen democratic institutions. We need to tell our foreign friends the clear true facts point-blank instead of playing to the BNP’s strategy for grabbing power along with their allies -- the Razakars, Al-Badr, and Al-Shams. The question for those who ask such questions then becomes: Are they ready to live in a pseudo-Pakistan under the terrorist cohorts of the Pakistani army?Nadeem Qadir is a UN Dag Hammarskjold Fellow in journalism.