The United States has said that the people of Bangladesh should be able to exercise their fundamental freedoms including the freedom of expression and the freedom of assembly鈥攏o matter which party rules the country.
The US Department of State spokesperson, Matthew Miller, made the remark responding to a question at a routine press briefing at his office in Washington on Monday.
鈥榃e believe that the people of Bangladesh should be able to exercise their fundamental freedoms, including the freedom of expression, the freedom of assembly.聽 We believe that is the case no matter who the ruling party is in Bangladesh, and we have made that clear a number of times from this podium as well in our bilateral engagements,鈥� he said.
He was asked about the use of the Anti-Terrorism Act by the Bangladesh Police allegedly to arrest individuals associated with the recently banned Bangladesh Chhatra League, the student organisation of the Awami League, for participating in demonstrations.
The question was raised from the perspective of fair political process and civil liberties in Bangladesh.
When his attention was drawn to media reports suggesting 252 police sub-inspectors in Bangladesh were dismissed from final recruitment, allegedly excluding all Hindu officers, the spokesperson said that he had not seen that report.
鈥楤ut obviously we believe that the 鈥� well, let me say obviously we would oppose any religious discrimination in any process in Bangladesh or anywhere in the world,鈥� he added.
The interim government led by Professor Muhammad Yunus banned Chhatra League on October 23 through an executive order for its atrocities in the past 15 years of the Sheikh Hasina regime, which was overthrown by a student-led mass uprising on August 5.
