In its statement on July 19, 2023, the Coalition for Human Rights & Democracy in Bangladesh (CHRD Bangladesh), mentioned the criminal assault on Ashraful Alam, also known as Hero Alam, by ruling elements during the by-election in Dhaka on July 17, 2023.
It was a stark display of another terror-ridden farce by the administration of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in total defiance of the US punitive sanctions, visa restrictions and global calls for free and fair elections in Bangladesh.
Foreign missions condemn the attack
Thirteen diplomatic missions in Dhaka, including the United States and the European Union, issued a statement condemning the incident and demanding punitive actions against the perpetrators. Other signatories are Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The statement also urged the authorities to ensure that the coming elections be free, fair and peaceful. The United Nations, Amnesty International and other rights organizations also protested the assault, demanding an urgent investigation into the incident and punishment to the criminals.
“This type of political violence has no place in democratic elections,” said Matthew Miller, spokesperson to the US State Department, on July 17, 2023 pointing at the assault on Alam. The Coalition for Human Rights & Democracy in Bangladesh (CHRD Bangladesh) joins the diplomatic missions and international organizations in strongly condemning the attack on a candidate in a parliamentary election.
Alam, an independent candidate in the by-election in Dhaka, was physically assaulted, under the watch of police and election officials, by the thugs of ruling Bangladesh Awami League while he was visiting a polling center on July 17, 2023. He had earlier complained that his polling agents were beaten and driven away by the ruling thugs from a few centers.
Criminal attacks on opposition rallies
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and other opposition parties have been staging peaceful rallies in Dhaka and outside the capital to press for their One Point demand for the resignation of the Hasina government, to be followed by the national polls under a neutral caretaker government (CTG). The BNP remains adamant that it will neither participate in an election under Hasina nor will elections be allowed, as it perceives that to be a replay of the heightened electoral farce that took place in 2014 and 2018.
The rally in Dhaka on July 12, 2023 was undisturbed, perhaps in an effort to hoodwink the high-level US team in Dhaka, even though there were reports of intimidations by the police and ruling elements of the opposition groups on their way to the venue. However, the subsequent rallies of the party’s youth wing in other parts of the country left two activists dead–a total of 19 since last October–when the police and ruling thugs attacked the opposition groups. In a statement on July 18, the BNP said that, in addition to the deaths, about 2000 of their party members were wounded, about 1000 receiving bullet injuries from police fires. More than 100 people were arrested.
CHRD Bangladesh considers that these criminal acts by the ruling coterie warrant immediate additional and stricter sanctions on the defiant and incorrigible regime. In addition, they also fall within the purview of United States’ announced visa restrictions which also apply to the family members of the perpetrators, past and present.
No Election Without a Caretaker Administration
These unabated criminal acts during polls also demonstrate that there cannot be free and fair elections under the Hasina administration. To ensure credible elections, and combating authoritarianism and corruption in Bangladesh, the next elections must be held under a neutral CTG at the earliest.