Minister admits atrocities against minorities

Bangladesh Foreign Minister M. Morshed Khan, while admitting yesterday that atrocities had been committed against the minorities in his country, strongly denied charges that his Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) government was involved in any way in the massacre that led to an exodus of thousands of minorities in the wake of his party's overwhelming victory in elections held last year.

He also said his government would seek to unite Bangladeshis rather than divide them on party lines. Speaking to Gulf News in Dubai, on his way home from the landmark OIC-EU meeting in Turkey, Khan, who is in the vanguard of a new team headed by Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, said: "It cannot be said the killings did not happen, they did."

He said in an exclusive interview, late on Wednesday night, that the systematic "targeting of the weakest elements of our society - the women, the poor and the minorities" was the work of criminal elements in the three week interim period before his government formally took over on October 21.

"Just like they did in 1971, when my four brothers were killed, when my uncle was killed, the three weakest sections of society were targeted. It was not Hindu versus Muslim, or in separate Hindu and Muslim neighbourhoods that the killings took place but in neighbourhoods where criminals were out to settle scores, prey on the weak.

"These killings took place from October 1 to October 20 when we were in the process of setting up the government. But after the government was installed there have been no further incidents."

Many of the refugees who fled Bangladesh for neighbouring India have since returned, and Khan said "India had done the right thing," by refusing to make political capital out of the minority killing issue despite the fact that New Delhi was initially wary of Khaleda's intentions given her previous reputation as an India baiter.

Khan said, however, that India and Bangladesh had begun to explore ways of expediting the completion of the inconclusive Indo-Bangladesh border treaty.

"India's Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh and I are in touch. Holding back progress on such an agreement is as much a problem for Bangladesh as it is for India. These small irritants must be removed, confidence building measures in bilateral relations are important."

Some 13 enclaves along 6.5 km of territory that criss-cross the riparian expanse along the Indo-Bangladesh border have not been demarcated, resulting in the infamous Pyrdiwah incident last year where three Indian were killed.

Most of the criticism of Khaleda Zia's government has come in the last three months from the outgoing Awami League government which banks traditionally on the minority Hindu vote.

Relations between the two leaders has been less than pleasant and the change of government has resulted in a boycott of parliament by the opposition party, a repeat of virtually the same tactics employed by the BNP when it was in opposition.

Asked when Bangladesh would shed its divisive brand of politics, Khan said his government had already embarked on such an exercise by shedding partisan politics and looking on all Bangladeshis as citizens of their country rather than as supporters of this or that party.

He denied that the White Paper on corruption released by his government or the move to amend text books and change holidays was in any way targeted at the outgoing Hasina administration. He also said his government would not overturn the agreements reached by the previous government.

Taking credit for the Chittagong Hill Tracts pact that brought peace on its border with Myanmar, he said it was an agreement that the previous BNP government had negotiated on for five years but was signed by Hasina when she came to power.

"The White Paper is targeted at people who are corrupt," he said, "it just so happens, one of these people headed the outgoing administration. It is important that in a country like Bangladesh where huge part of the funds come from NGOs that we strike at the heart of corruption, it cannot be allowed."

He also said his prime minister was clear she was the head of the country and not just the head of a party.

"The beauty of Bangladesh is that we have free and fair elections and that this election is closely monitored by the world community, and that we are now the largest practicing moderate Islamic democracy in the world.

The downside is that on the other hand many in Bangladesh behave as if they are driving their car with their eyes, not on the front, but on the rear view mirror.

"I have great respect for the position of the leader of the opposition, but it is very sad that the level of leadership has not lived up to the aspirations of the people. October 1 is a reflection of the people's realization of that reality. Our blue print for the future is too see that we in government are not seen to divide the nation. A government should be people oriented not party oriented."

His government, he said, is the first to set up a ministry dedicated to the welfare on Non Resident Bangladeshis he said. Some 300,000 Bangladeshis reside in the UAE while another 600,000 live in Saudi Arabia.

Khan said the BNP government was looking to take on peace keeping operations in Afghanistan under the UN's auspices, one of the many ways his government seeks to emphasise its growing role in the global community.

"We may be a small country but we have come down as hard on terror, and have demonstrated that commitment by our peace keeping operations in all the major hot spots of the world. If we are needed in Afghanistan, we will go."