M Mushfiqul Fazal, State Department correspondent
Political violence has no place in democracy, principal deputy spokesperson at the US Department of State, Vedant Patel, said during a briefing in Washington on Wednesday.
“We support Bangladesh’s goal of holding a free, fair, and peaceful election. And I will note, though, that we’ve always emphasized the importance of the United States and Bangladesh working together to achieve Bangladesh’s goal of free and fair elections. It’s an important aspect of our bilateral relationship,” he said.
Vedant Patel said these while replying to a query on Bangladesh issue at the briefing.
In the briefing, State Department correspondent M Mushfiqul Fazal asked, “According media reports in Bangladesh, the ministry of foreign affairs summoned the heads of 13 foreign missions, including the United States, United Kingdom, and the EU, for their recent condemning of the recent attack on the Dhaka-17 by election independent candidate. And earlier, on July 20, they even summoned UN resident coordinator. So you were urging for free, fair and election and all the Western allies and the development partner, they’re urging free, fair election, but the government is doing the other way around. They’re summoning diplomats in Dhaka. So what is your comment?”
In reply, Vedant Patel said, “So we’ve been clear that political violence has no place in democracy and that the U.S. favors no political party. We support Bangladesh’s goal of holding a free, fair, and peaceful election.”
“I will note, though, that we’ve always emphasized the importance of the United States and Bangladesh working together to achieve Bangladesh’s goal of free and fair elections. It’s an important aspect of our bilateral relationship. And we believe that free and fair elections are a shared priority, and many Bangladeshi government officials, including the prime minister, have themselves said that it is their goal,” he added.
On Wednesday, Bangladesh conveyed its dismay to 13 envoys in Dhaka over their statement protesting the attack on Hero Alam.
“We expressed our dissatisfaction. I hope that after our discussion today, they will realise that their joint statement has been presented prematurely, out of step with the flow of events, and they will refrain from such undiplomatic behavior in the future,” state minister for foreign affairs Md Shahriar Alam told reporters at Foreign Service Academy.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the ambassadors or high commissioners of the 13 foreign missions that issued a joint statement recently after a candidate was assaulted during a by-election to the Dhaka-17 constituency.
The statement called for a full investigation and accountability for the perpetrators of the assault on independent candidate Ashraful Alom, better known as Hero Alom.
In the joint statement, the foreign missions had said, “We condemn the July 17 attack on Dhaka-17 constituency candidate Ashraful Alom, popularly known as Hero Alam. Violence has no place in the democratic process.”
“Everyone involved in the upcoming elections should ensure that they are free, fair, and peaceful,” said the diplomatic missions in Dhaka.
The joint statement was signed by the embassies/high commissions of Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States and the delegation of the European Union.
NR/
