Amid criticism from Dhaka University Teachers’ Association over US ambassador’s “contradictory” approach towards family members of armed forces officers – many of whom were freedom fighters – executed during Gen Ziaur Rahman’s regime, Prime Minister’s ICT Adviser Sajeeb Wazed Joy called out the “double standards” in a humorous tone.
On Martyred Intellectuals Day (December 14, 2022), US Ambassador Peter Haas visited the residence of Sanjida Islam, coordinator of ‘Mayer Dak’, an organisation of families of victims of enforced disappearance, in Dhaka’s Shaheenbagh. Sanjida is the sister of BNP leader Sajedul Islam Sumon, who is reportedly a victim of enforced disappearance that took place in 2013.
Read more: DUTA slams US Ambassador for ‘contradictory’ behaviour
Acting on information that the US ambassador was visiting a house in Shaheenbagh area, members of ‘Mayer Kanna’ – a platform of family members of victims of enforced disappearance during Gen Zia’s rule – showed up and tried to draw the attention of the ambassador.
Awaiting justice for over four decades, the victim families sought intervention of the US ambassador for bringing the perpetrators to book. Gen Zia “unjustly executed around 1,156 army and air force personnel – by hanging or firing squad,” the ‘Mayer Kanna’ appeal reads.
Terming the US ambassador’s behaviour “contradictory”, a Dhaka University Teachers’ Association statement said that the envoy went to the house of a disappeared person, but didn’t listen to what ‘Mayer Kanna’, an organisation seeking justice for those killed and disappeared during the regime of Ziaur Rahman, had to say.
Read more: US envoy’s visit to Mayer Dak coordinator’s house won’t hurt ties: Info Minister
Following the much-talked about incident, Sajeeb Wazed on his verified Facebook page wrote: “Why has there never been a coup in Washington, DC? Because, there is no US Embassy there!”
The post gained traction on social media amid statement from BNP leaders raising concerns about diplomats’ security in the country.
Many netizens pointed out the 2004 grenade attack on the then British High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Anwar Choudhury, in Sylhet, when BNP was in office.
Many also questioned the timing of the US ambassador’s visit on Martyred Intellectuals Day.
The nation mourns the day by honouring the martyrs, going to memorials. During the Liberation War in 1971, Pakistan army with its local collaborators — many belonging to Jamaat — picked up over 1000 Bengali intellectuals and brutally killed them. The alliance between Jamaat and BNP dates back to the latter’s founding days under Gen Ziaur Rahman.
Source: United News of Bangladesh