Rights situation: Nur Khan says he felt ‘sick’ hearing press secretary’s remarks

Chief adviser’s press secretary Shafiqul Alam has claimed that Bangladesh’s law and order situation remains stable and that the reality of human rights conditions is “much better” than what is portrayed in the media.

He made the remarks at a roundtable organised by human rights organisation Sapran at the Bishwa Sahitya Kendra in Dhaka on Wednesday afternoon.

The press secretary said one of the key problems with human rights reports on Bangladesh is their heavy reliance on newspaper coverage.

Questioning the reliability of such reports, he argued that the accuracy and credibility of newspaper stories used as primary sources should also be scrutinised.

Shafiqul Alam further suggested that incidents in Bangladesh should be verified independently through international human rights organisations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.

He added that despite numerous challenges, the interim government was “doing a good job.” The press secretary left the event shortly after making his remarks, citing urgent official duties.

However, several speakers sharply criticised the press secretary’s comments.

Nur Khan, member of the commission that investigated enforced disappearances and a noted human rights activist, said, “I felt sick hearing the government’s narrative.”

He added, “He accused human rights groups of compiling statistics from newspapers Assuming that only government reports are truthful, he questioned the veracity of the reports of rights activists and journalists. It is deeply unfortunate to hear such a narrative from a representative of the interim government.”

Saimum Parvez, foreign affairs adviser to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party acting chairman, said the press secretary had questioned the credibility of newspapers and human rights reports.

“But it was through newspaper reports that the human rights violations under Sheikh Hasina’s government became known,” he said. “If anyone wants to criticise the interim government, must we now establish new institutions or rebuild the state structure altogether?”

“The press secretary said ‘reality is better,’ but probably that’s not true. Reality is not better,” Saimum Parvez added.

Human rights defender Rezaur Rahman Lenin called the press secretary’s remarks “deceptive.”

According to him, it has become a habit for government representatives to invoke the UN, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International as shields, suggesting that unless they verify a report, it’s false. “This kind of rhetoric must stop.”

Supreme Court lawyer Manzur-al-Matin commented, “The lens through which Shafiqul bhai views Bangladesh is the same one the police once used to see Abu Sayed. And, according to that lens, the protesters killed Abu Sayed. If everyone in the government now adopts the police’s version as the sole truth, then we have every reason to be deeply concerned.”