Dhaka, Nov.19 (ANI): United States Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Nisha Biswal has underscored the urgency for a dialogue between the feuding parties with an aim to facilitate free and fair elections in Bangladesh.
The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has been repeatedly forcing the ruling Awami League to hold elections, due by January at the latest, under a non-partisan caretaker government.
However, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has repeatedly refused. Instead, she has offered the formation of an all-party government to see through the elections with her staying in charge.
Highlighting the need for a dialogue, Biswal while addressing a news conference on Monday said: "The announcement of the interim cabinet simply underscores the urgency for a dialogue to take place immediately to determine a way forward for peaceful, free, fair and credible elections to take place."
Earlier, Biswal also met Hasina and Begum Zia and had a discussion over the forthcoming polls.
After the meeting with the leading ladies of the politics, Biswal pinned hopes on a parley between the two.
"The meetings that we had with the Prime Minister (Sheikh Hasina) and with Begum Zia that we underscored our call for a dialogue, we are hopeful that such a dialogue can and will take place," she added.
Bangladesh has also been hit by a wave of violent demonstrations over war crimes convictions dating back to the war of independence from Pakistan in 1971, with more than 100 people killed in protests and counter-protests this year.
Stressing upon peaceful rallies and demonstrations, Biswal said that political rights must be respected.
"The United States has expressed its very strong conviction that political rights must be respected. Freedom of association and freedom of assembly, the ability to have peaceful rallies and peaceful demonstrations are an important aspect of any democratic society, we have reiterated that to all parties," reiterated Biswal.
The recent deadlock, nothing new in Bangladesh, has led to the deaths of at least 18 people during several violent protests and shutdowns.
Biswal called for a cessation of strikes which led to violence and killing.
"There is equally an obligation by all parties to provide for peaceful means of assembly and expression and we have also underscored that violence of any kind is not acceptable in a democratic process and we have called for a cessation for hartals (general strike) that leads to violence," Biswal also said.
She also said that if dialogue was not possible between the top politicians then it should at least start at the secretary-general level.
"I would say dialogue whether it's at the leadership level or whether it's at the secretary-general level, that the dialogue is what is important. Sometimes it is easier to make progress particularly at the technical level when it is not at the leadership level but I would say what is most important right now is dialogue," she added.
Wrangling over a war that ended 42 years ago might puzzle outsiders, but it underlines the unresolved rift within this South Asian country of 160 million between secular nationalism and a belief that Islam is the defining core of the state.
For now, the feud between bloggers and Islam has diverted attention from a stand-off between Prime Minister Hasina and BNP leader Begum Khaleda Zia over whether to install a caretaker authority to ensure a free and fair election.
Both heirs to political dynasties, Hasina and Khaleda have rotated as prime minister since 1991 amid unending enmity.
If that impasse is not broken, the BNP may boycott the poll, unleashing fresh unrest - or there could be a repeat of 2007, when the army stepped in and installed a provisional government to crack down on the political thuggery and violence. (ANI)
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