Statement by the Hon'ble Foreign Minister Mr. M Morshed Khan, MP, while briefing Heads of Foreign Diplomatic Missions and International Organizations on Tuesday, at the State Guest House Padma, Dhaka March 07, 2006.

Excellencies

Good afternoon

I thank you very much for joining me for lunch. In recent days, many new Heads of Mission have taken up their responsibilities in Dhaka. I warmly welcome you all to our country and hope your stay will be comfortable, enjoyable and that you will contribute to the strengthening of our bilateral relations.

I wanted to avail this opportunity to brief the Heads of Mission on some very important developments that have taken place in the country.

The month of March is very auspicious in the history of our country. On the 26th of this month, we will celebrate our 34th year of independence. As we celebrate the day, we will recall the tremendous sacrifices made by the people of this country took up arms against the might of an overwhelming strong occupation force and gave their lives for the cause of democracy, human rights, tolerance and equal opportunities for all. After a bloody struggle of nine months, we emerged victorious. The principles and values for which we fought our war of liberation remain true for now and for all time to come and will continue to inspire us toward building a prosperous Bangladesh and strengthening our commitment to democracy.

Excellencies,

A dark day fell upon this country on August 17 2005 when the members of the outlawed JMB or the Jamaitul Mujahideen Bangladesh carried out a series of bombings simultaneously in all but one of the total 64 districts of Bangladesh. The operation was meticulously planned and timed and was carried out with precision. The operation took place when the Prime Minister was out of the country on an official visit abroad. The intension was to create nationwide panic, terror and instability and to dislodge a democratically elected Government.

As you have all seen, the perpetrators of terror have failed miserably in whatever they had hoped to achieve. The reason is very clear: they underestimated the commitment of the people of Bangladesh to uphold the values of human rights, democracy, tolerance and their total abhorrence to terror.

Instead of creating panic or fear, the actions of the terrorists and extremists resulted in a wave of anger across the country. The people rallied behind the Government to bring the criminals to face justice and to destroy their terror network.

The Hon'ble Prime Minister cut short her visit and on her return, took charge of the situation. Her directives were very clear and unambiguous: show no mercy and spare no one. She made a solemn pledge to the people that the masterminds of terror will be caught.

The extremists again made the mistake of undermining the will of the Government and that of the people of the country. They resorted to tactics that were unprecedented in our society: suicide bombings. Judges and magistrates, police and innocent people were targeted.

The Government marshaled all available resources and went after the extremists. Based on sound intelligence and coordination among the law enforcing agencies, and with the all out support and cooperation of the people, the leaders of the outlawed JMB were being caught one by one. The climax was reached on last Thursday morning, when the JMB supremo, Shaekh Abdur Rahman was hunted down by the RAB, Police and the BDR in Sylhet and he surrendered timidly, knowing that he and his so called ideology had no support in this country. The entire operation was coordinated by my esteemed colleague and State Minister for Home Affairs, Mr. Lutfuzzaman Babar who is also present here with us.

The nationwide jubilation that followed the arrest of Shaekh Abdur Rahman should leave no doubt in any one's mind that extremism and hatred has no connection to Islam and has no place in Bangladesh. The capture of Sahekh Abdur Rahman was quickly followed by the arrest of the hated Siddiqur Rahman or Bangla Bhai. By putting the JMB and its supporters on the run and bringing the leaders to the book, the Government has fulfilled its pledge to the people to combat terrorism.

The action however does not end here. There will be no complacency until the last terrorist has been apprehended and their network has been totally demolished. This was very clear in the Prime Minister radio and television address and we have circulated the text of her speech to you for your perusal.

Extremism and terror are tools of the cowards who operate in the dark. Their victims are innocent people including women and children. They have no respect for human life or dignity and make no distinction either in religion or nationality of the victims of terror. Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia has been very firm in making this point clear. She described the August 17 bombings as an attack on democracy. She articulated the Government's position on extremism at the OIC Summit held in December last year when she said and I quote,

" Let me state here categorically - a terrorist must be identified as a terrorist only, irrespective of his or her colour, creed or religion. We condemn terrorism as such and in all its forms or manifestations. We urge the OIC to clearly condemn all acts of terrorism in the name of Islam and to take concrete measures in this regard. We must send strong signals to perpetrators of such despicable acts that they will find no shelter in any Muslim country." unquote.

You will also note from the Prime Minister's address to the nation on Thursday on March 2, 2006 that she has attributed the success in tracking down the top JMB leaders and terrorists to the people of Bangladesh. She did so because the people are the strength behind the Government. In 2001, the people of this country went to polls and gave the present Government a resounding mandate to govern for the next 5 years.

The strength and beauty of democracy lies in a legitimate opposition that keeps a tab on the Government by its constructive criticism of policies and decisions. It is unfortunate that some of our opposition leaders have chosen to take their dissent beyond our frontiers and have joined vested interests abroad by participating in conferences and seminars that seek to tarnish the moderate image of the country by targeting the present Government as communal and an abettor of religious extremism. They have rallied with anti-Bangladesh elements abroad to project present day Bangladesh as a failed state in which the Government is projected as an active supporter of harassing and persecuting the people of other religious faiths and everything else that is bad. In these seminars, the representatives of the Government were either not allowed to make their point or were barred to enter.

A democratically elected Government is accountable to the people and has to uphold the trust reposed on it. An elected Government cannot be an ally or a partner of terror or an organization that profess hatred and seeks to destroy the very fundamentals of democracy and the values for which the people of this country laid down their lives in the historic war of liberation in 1971.

Sensationalism is always sought after by the media and I therefore would not blame them, particularly the western ones, for publishing sensational news if a responsible leader or personality of our country holding an official position were to tell them all this. The Western media in not interested in projecting our positive developments but will pounce on any anything that is negative. So why blame them. To play politics with domestic problems in foreign lands can only serve to undermine national interests and give the country and its people a bad name. The people of this country however are quite mature and know how to deal with this problem.

Excellencies,

Many of you, especially those representing the western and donor countries have at various occasions and levels, raised the issue of free and fair elections in the country and on the need for electoral reforms. Some of you have offered your services in organizing an international conference on the subject. We have never doubted your good intentions and we thank you for your interest in our welfare.

National elections however are an internal matter and no sovereign country would welcome interference from outside. Besides, outsiders cannot fully comprehend the intricacies and complexities of domestic politics and may sometimes unwittingly get involved in a situations that would have been best avoided. You must be aware that there is a specific amendment in the Constitution of Bangladesh that spells out exactly how the elections are to be conducted. In October this year, after completion of its term, the Government will hand over power to a neutral caretaker Government that will be formed as per the provisions of our Constitution as per agreement by all political parties reached in 1991. Two elections were conducted under that provision which was observed by international election monitors and observers. These monitors were unanimous in their opinion that the elections were free and fair and the transfer of power was smooth and peaceful.

The introduction of the system of a neutral caretaker Government was unique and hailed by the international community as a positive measure in ensuring fairness in polls. In fact the former Prime Minister in many of her statements took credit for initiating the system.

The coming elections will have to take place as per the provisions of the constitution. To reject it will be a violation of the Constitution. In my view, some of our friends seem to have been influenced by some apprehensions raised by the opposition that the Government has taken certain actions that undermine the autonomy of the Election Commission, pre-empts the neutrality of the Chief Advisor of the caretaker Government, tampering with electoral rolls by leaving out the minority population and so on. Let me assure you that these allegations are totally baseless and unfounded. The present Government cannot hope to return to power by resorting to fraudulent means. It must be transparent. A formula " If I win, the elections are free and if I lose the elections are rigged" cannot be an acceptable option. One has to have faith in the system as it came about through an act of the Parliament.

The Government is not intimidated by threats of boycotting the polls unless the reform proposals proposed by the Opposition are not accepted in totality. This is not a proposal but an ultimatum that smacks of arrogance of the minority in parliament. An elected Government cannot be blackmailed to accept the unreasonable and the impossible. It is the fundamental right of the people of this country to exercise their right of franchise to elect a Government of their own free will on the scheduled dates and time. The Government has no power to tamper with that right.

Despite all this, the Government is prepared to sit and discuss with the opposition parties to find some common grounds to make the existing system better. The Hon'ble Prime Minister in her concluding speech at the last Parliament session on February 28, 2006 had proposed that a Parliamentary Committee be formed comprising members of the treasury and opposition benches and come out with some recommendations for implementation. The Prime Minister did not have to do this. Her decision is surely one of vision and leadership and that of a statesperson committed to democracy. We hope the opposition will accept the Prime Minister's offer and nominate their members for the committee. The Prime Minister has left no doubt about her sincerity and we trust the international community has taken note of this.

I thank you.