Recently the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on seven former and incumbent high-level officials of Bangladesh’s Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) over allegations of large-scale human rights abuse. The sanction appeared to be based more on unverified or unsubstantiated allegations than on facts in connection with specific incidents. Being a large democracy in the world, we always expect logical and contextual decisions from the United States. The recent US decision about Bangladesh gravely affected that expectations. Taking such a harsh decision based on unsubstantiated allegations is not a modern-day smart diplomatic approach for a country like the US. For the sake of argument one can raise the issue of recent ‘black lives matter’ movement following the killing of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. However, we want to strongly believe that the US has strong state policy against all these rights violation activities. Here, we can recall the role of the USA in our Liberation War in 1971 and the country is yet to condemn the killings, arsons, rapes committed by Pakistan.
US-Bangladesh relations on the positive trajectory will help stabilizing geo-political stability in the subcontinent. We know very well that the US policy towards Bangladesh emphasizes support for political stability and countering terrorism and Islamist extremism in Bangladesh. We strongly believe that anti-Bangladesh people may have political motives behind the decision who motivated the US government equipping the treasury and state departments with fake information. If the US administration takes a closer look into it, we hope, they would get the real picture.
Bangladesh, under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, always showed its zero-tolerance policy against terrorism in all its forms. Sheikh Hasina also chalked out a detailed roadmap for regional and global security. She is leading the movement to ensure a fair world for all people. Her relentless struggle is to institutionalize democracy in Bangladesh. On the contrary, if we look at the US, we see the incumbent Biden administration had a promise to establish principles of democracy and human rights across the globe. But the world painfully observed the disastrous and harrowing pictures of Afghans following the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. The world saw a nation led by Biden that has long seen itself as a global leader and guardian of democracy, human rights and humanitarianism left the innocent Afghan to the terrorist Talibans. Widespread destruction during the war, millions uprooted from their homes, foreign aid cuts, and losses of local spending by departed US-led foreign troops are fueling an economic and humanitarian crisis that is likely to leave many destitute Afghans dependent on the narcotics trade for survival. Is it a democratic action demonstrated by Biden? Is it not a threat to global peace and
security?
Global leaders lauded Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for her leadership by giving shelter to the displaced Rohingyas in Bangladesh in 2017. No other country could show such a mammoth illustration of humanity as she did. And she was duly accorded the title ‘The Mother of Humanity’ by the European Magazine Diplomat. Today, Sheikh Hasina is mooting the model of global peace in the international forums and her proposals are being accepted by the global leaders. At least 138 people deported to El Salvador from the United States in recent years were subsequently killed by the security forces just on the pretext of domestic security reasons.
American treasury sanctions on the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and seven present and former officials came at a time when all of them were dedicated to save lives of people from the attacks of terrorists and drug dealers. The overall operational procedure of the RAB is highly accountable to judicial system and always watched by the people’s representatives. Here we can mention the petrol bomb movement of BNP, jamaat and their militant outfits in 2013. They resorted to arson attacks on innocent people leaving hundreds of people charred. What could be the domestic action by the US government if such barbaric violence would occur there?
Over the last 12 years law enforcers in Bangladesh were targeted by the violent opposition political hoodlums. In such context we need to know what is done by the US police in their own soil. The trend of fatal police shootings in the United States seems to only be increasing as nearly one thousand people were killed over the last five years. Over one million have been jailed in 2020. A question can be easily asked to know how many people are confined in the Guantanamo prison or how they are being tried.
We need to see things from various positive angles for the greater interest of the Bangladesh-US relations. Bangladesh is a dependable trade and development partner of the US. And investors from Europe, Russia, China, India and other continents are pouring because of the political stability here. Bangladesh is one of the largest troops contributors to the United Nations peace Missions. The sanctions on the top security officials will give wrong message to the world about Bangladesh’s peacekeeping forces that in larger context will affect the peace efforts around the globe. Bangladesh is closely working with US to fight money laundering. Both the countries have heralded a culture to combat terrorists and drug dealers. Such a sanctions should not hinder those significant jobs. A decision from a mighty country should not bring a bad name for a friendly country that is struggling hard to move ahead with democratic principles. All should watch carefully so that regional and international terrorist outfits don’t get any moral support from these sanctions. Bangladesh believes in liberal diplomatic policy. With the philosophy ‘friendship to all, malice to none’ Bangladesh needs to engage more with the United States to correct misunderstandings and future actions. Last but not the least, we expect that the US would value and honour the rights of a country to practise
democratic culture and defend its sovereignty.
The writer is a Columnist and Politician.
