Govt doesn’t want interference in internal matters

The state minister for foreign affairs Md Shahriar Alam said, Bangladesh government has full authority over the country’s internal affairs and said Bangladesh doesn’t appreciate foreign interference in its internal matters.

The state minister said this to the reporters on Sunday noon in his reaction to the US Annual Human Rights report.

Shahriar Alam pointed out a number of discrepancies in the report saying, “There are certain things in this report which are miles away from the ground reality in Bangladesh. There are many things there which we outright reject, things which are unacceptable. Especially the topic of gay rights.”

The state minister said, in one section of the report they cited human rights organisation Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK) and said that in 2018, 275 extrajudicial murders took place in Bangladesh. But in another section of the report it was written that during that period 606 extrajudicial murders took place in the country. There are major problems with the information used in the report. The countries that have responded have said that there are some fundamental errors. So point is whether or not can these things even be questioned. The sources used in the US report are quite weak. In the recent past, we have seen that all of them have political agendas.

When asked about the US sanctions on RAB, the state minister said, the government won’t appreciate attempts of tarnishing the image of a good institution. They have uprooted terrorism from Bangladesh. So, he requested all not to smear the image of a national institution like RAB.

Shahriar Alam also said that they haven’t spoken with the US ambassador about the report, “After verifying the information given in the report with our ministries, we will hold a discussion.”

“We will ask them about the inconsistent information in the report– why such information was used. In aspects where there is scope for improvement, we will cooperate with them.”