Congressman Gregory Meeks, Chairman of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, has given a sensational information regarding the imposition of sanctions on Bangladesh. “Needless to say, a quarter is working hard to impose sanctions against Bangladesh, but we did not do that.”
Speaking as chief guest at a luncheon organized under the banner ‘Bangladeshis for Gregory Meeks’ to raise election funds for the Democratic congressman Meeks, and moderated by Morshed Alam, a community leader in US, Meeks said that a strong lobbying process is going on to impose sanctions on many more important people in Bangladesh.
Freedom fighter Rashed Ahmed, journalist Lablu Ansar, Abul Bashar Chunnu, CEO of Biswa Bangla 24 TV Alim Khan Akash, founder-chairman of NRBC Bank Farasat Ali, Queens Democratic Party, district leader Richard David, workers' union leader and heroic freedom fighter Kazi Monir Hossain, Youth Democrat Ahnaf Alam, United States Women Awami League leader Mamtaz Shahnaz, Rumana Akhter, Awami League leader Shah Bakhtiar, Jalaluddin Jalil and Bangladesh Society leader Monica Roy Chowdhury were present during this time.
In response to the concerns of expatriates he said, “ Sanctions were not given against Bangladesh or Bangladesh government. I am confirming the matter. We have continued to work with the people of Bangladesh and the government of the country on various issues while maintaining a cordial atmosphere as before. He further said, “We are trying to find out the truth. I will talk to everyone concerned. I will also sit with those who work with Bangladesh in the State Department. I will contact our ambassador working in Dhaka. Only after that I will try to come to a conclusion. The issue is not so simple that I will compromise without knowing the entire matter. It is not appropriate to punish the whole department because of a few people. Therefore, disciplinary action has been taken against those RAB members who have been accused of abuse of power and human rights violations.”
Referring to former President Donald Trump the Congressman said,“It has been claimed that those who carried out the attack on Capitol Hill on January 6 last year, are good people. Trump has publicly vowed to pardon them if he becomes president again. We did not take any direct action against those involved in the barbaric violence on that day. A commission has been formed to investigate the matter. Everything will be done on the basis of specific information-evidence.
He said that similarly, on the issue of Bangladesh, I am interested to take a decision according to the rules.
“After knowing the views of all quarters here, I would like to go to Dhaka for a field visit this year. We will know from our ambassador in Dhaka about the position of RAB and the allegations against them. However, what has already happened is that sanctions have been imposed on some according to the choice of the President,” he said.
Gregory Meeks said, “I want to promise you that I will talk to the US ambassador in Dhaka since he is on the ground. I will go to Dhaka any time of the year on the basis of congressional calendar. Before that, of course, those who are Bangladeshi-Americans will be contacted. Your opinions, comments, suggestions, requests will also be taken into consideration.”
Regarding the strong lobbying of sanctions against many other officials and politicians of Bangladesh, the Congressman said, “I will not do anything according to their words. They want to ban many more officials. That is not possible. Everything has to be scrutinized and right steps have to be taken. That is why I want to talk to both sides. I would also like to know the views of the Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Asia and the Pacific Islands in Congress. If necessary, I will also hold a hearing in the Congress. I will listen to everyone working with Bangladesh at that time. Based on that hearing, we will make a recommendation to the President of the United States through Congress.”
When asked about why granting of residency to Rashed Chowdhury, who was sentenced to death by a court for the brutal murder of the father of the nation of Bangladesh and his family members on August 15, 1975, by the United States shouldn’t be considered a violation of human rights, he said “If this is true, then it is tragic and the United States must stand in the dock on allegations of human rights abuses. I will definitely look into the matter. I will talk to everyone concerned about this.”
The congressman made the remarks in response to a question from community organizer Sakhawat Ali.
The grassroots leader of the Democratic Party in New York Dr Dilip Nath said that if the RAB had not been sincere in their duties, the violence, torture, assault, and murder-rape by the religious extremists would have continued on the Hindu-Buddhist-Christian community of Bangladesh.
“Religious minorities now make up 9 percent of the total population. That too would have been wiped out. As RAB took action on 32,000 issues in 2019, Bangladesh has been able to suppress extremist terrorists. The cycle of socio-political malpractice has abated. These activities of RAB are well known among the people. The image of an organization like RAB will be tarnished due to the political aspirations of a group and will again incite terrorism,” he said.
Dr Dilip mentioned that the strong leadership of the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is being appreciated by all in combating national-regional-international terrorism and therefore, it is important that the government under her leadership remains in power.
M A Salam, President of America-Bangladesh Alliance, Community Leader Dr. Pradeep Kar and Engineer Farasat Ali, Mohammad Ali Siddiqui, Syed Mohammad Ullah, a veteran journalist, while elaborating on Sheikh Hasina's strong leadership in the development journey of Bangladesh, said that a quarter is carrying out various activities in America to turn Bangladesh into a sanctuary of extremist-terrorism.
“True friends of Bangladesh must be aware of this. Today, Bangladesh has become a model of development in South Asia due to the bold steps taken by Sheikh Hasina and her government to root out international terrorism,” he added.
In his concluding remarks, the host Morshed Alam thanked the Congressman and said that a group of people have been spreading propaganda against the ongoing development of Bangladesh.
“The US Congress must be aware of this. Those involved in the conspiracy to stop the development of Bangladesh and bring about the rise of militancy can never be friends of humanity. All expatriates should be aware of them,” he said.