Within the next 19 months, by December 2023, Bangladesh will be holding the next general elections, which is expected to be held in a festive atmosphere with participation of all political parties. The Bangladesh government is sincerely willing to hold a free and fair election. The 350 members of the Jatiya Sangsad [National Parliament] consist of 300 directly elected seats using first-past-the-post voting in single-member constituencies, and an additional 50 seats reserved for women. The reserved seats are elected proportionally by the elected members. Each parliament sits for a five-year term. In 2018, Awami League won the election for the third consecutive term and formed the government under Sheikh Hasina as the Prime Minister.
During the past 13-plus years, Bangladesh, under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has significantly changed towards a very positive direction. As stated by the US ambassador to Bangladesh, Peter Haas:
Bangladesh is now one of the fastest growing economies in the Indo-Pacific. You are preparing for graduation from Least Developed Country status and racing ahead toward middle income status.
This change brings about a new dynamic. Simply put, the United States conducts diplomacy with major economies and with regional leaders differently.
As the relationship grows, the conversation broadens. Our governments recently held several important dialogues—the Partnership Dialogue, the Bilateral Security Dialogue, and other key engagements in Washington. In the coming weeks, we will hold two more: the Bilateral Defense Dialogue and the High-Level Economic Consultation.
Such conversations have—and will—identify opportunities to enhance our relationship. But our respective governments must decide whether and how to move beyond words into action.
The US ambassador has identified “security cooperation” between Dhaka and Washington as one of the main points of further strengthening the relations between Bangladesh and the United States.
In this case, one may ask, how the “security cooperation” between the two countries can see genuine success when the United States has unjustly imposed sanctions on Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), simply being misled by anti-Bangladesh, pro-terror, pro-jihad and pro-Islamist forces? One may feel surprised seeing the statement of the US ambassador in this regard, where he said:
Regarding law enforcement, I will be honest. There is no scope for repeal of sanctions against the Rapid Action Battalion without concrete action and accountability. We want to see a RAB that remains effective at combatting terrorism, but that does so while respecting basic human rights.
But RAB sanctions do not mean we cannot enhance our strong law enforcement security cooperation. We will continue to work with Bangladesh to combat transnational crime and terrorism, enhance border security, and prevent violent extremism.
First of all, I would like to mention here that, in the past and even recently we have seen the US authorities have lifted sanctions even within months of its imposition. The Houthi case or the sanctions imposed on Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) are two classic examples. In the US, with the change of administration, many decisions are rebooted. As we know, this November’s midterm elections in the United States will bring too many bad news for President Joe Biden and his party. According to multiple analysts, Republicans are going to win a majority in the Congress and Senate. In that case, most possibly, impeachment proceedings will be drawn against Joe Biden and he would be impeached.
Joe Biden has already become one of the most unpopular presidents in the US with a sinking approval rating. His failures include rocketing rise in prices of essentials, inflation, border crisis, illegal migrant issue, law and order situation, humiliating retreat from Afghanistan and lately America’s war against Russia on the Ukraine front.
In my opinion, Bangladesh should expedite its efforts in getting the sanctions imposed on the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) lifted immediately after the midterm elections in the US. Meanwhile, Dhaka should prepare an informative dossier giving detailed information on successes of RAB in combating terrorism, militancy, crime and violent extremism, which can be distributed amongst policymakers in the Congress, Senate, Capitol Hill and US intelligence agencies immediately after November’s midterm elections.
Policymakers in the US should note, without active participation of RAB, combatting terrorism and militancy would be tough, as terrorist acts and militancy can not be continued always by ensuring so-called human rights. We are even seeing how the United States is combating terrorism and militancy. In most cases, terrorists and militants are eliminated during encounter or cross-fire and the US forces in that case even think about so-called human rights. We know the case of Al Qaeda kingpin Osama Bin Laden, Islamic States (ISIS) thug Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi or those terrorists involved in recent terrorist or militancy attacks in the United States. Did the US law enforcement agencies take risk of not eliminating these evils simply because they had to show the world that killing a terrorist or jihadist goes against human rights? No way! In this case, why do members of the Rapid Action Battalion become victims of America’s unjust decision?
End of PART-1, Next installment: Bangladesh competes equally with major economies
