Back in October last year, hours after Dr Muhammad Yunus announced the July charter endorsed by a select group of political parties, the EU (European Union) Ambassador in Bangladesh, Michael Miller has described the move as a “milestone” toward political consensus and reform in Bangladesh in the run-up to the polls.
The hastily delivered statement from the EU ambassador has been projected by Yunus regime as glowing endorsement for the initiative, a desperate bid to impose legitimacy for the already turned controversial charter on his countrymen.
But reality appeared totally different as the charter has allegedly not only overlooked the concerns of the many who even took part in the July August movement but also violated the stated claims of European Union to promote inclusion, tolerance and human rights in South Asian countries like Bangladesh.
Days after the statement, a major stakeholder in the regime change, the University Teachers’ Network (UTN) said the much-publicised July National Charter which was drafted only based on the political parties’ opinions, has failed to make a call for unity, which signals potential new political crises in near future and failed to give people any hope. Also, the speech delivered by Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus (Yunus) at the signing ceremony is objectionable and hollow, according to the platform. Before the charter was announced, minority platforms also raised concerns and accused the regime of excluding religious minorities from any of the reform commissions tasked with proposing measures in this regard.
Even BBC Bangla service in a report stated that the very charter has ignored some fundamental values including labour rights, education, women rights and economy among others. No wonder, the outright approval for the charter by top EU diplomat despite the glaring absence of these key aspects clearly reduced the commitment of the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights to promote dignity, justice, and human rights to hypocrisy.
Despite the public outcry over the controversial charter, the advocacy by the EU Ambassador in defence of Yunus and his refusal to acknowledge the concerns raised by many shareholders of July August exposed his double standard and ruined his coveted claim of neutrality.
Now months later, as the election, regarded as an exercise of exclusion by many, has approached to justify the charter with a referendum, yet again the EU envoy and the chief election observer from EU have intensified their intervention to mislead the world by promoting Yunus’s narrative calling the upcoming exercise a milestone, what in fact BBC Bangla Service’s former head Sabir Mustafa described “engineered for power sharing among certain forces”. Many experts already called out the process a sham one” with the entire Yunus led administration has been squandering public fund and interfering for yes vote in the referendum what legal experts described completely illegal.
The list of EU envoy’s hypocrisy has been long under Yunus regime.
Let’s take a look at some of events on how the EU envoy and the head of election observer delegation lost their credibility as independent diplomats, rather became echo chamber of Yunus, abdicating all the stated moral standing to promote human rights and people to people diplomacy.
EU Chief Election Observer’s Hypocritical Stance: Altering Definition Of Inclusive Election
“Opposition political parties’ activities were severely limited by judicial proceedings and mass arrests. Voters did not have the opportunity to fully exercise their democratic right to vote for a diverse range of candidates following a decision by the main opposition party to boycott the elections” how EU election expert mission described the 2024 election in Bangladesh in its report. This observation clearly implied the definition of inclusion was anchored on the participation of parties and also the boycott from BNP was deemed lowering down choice of voters. Now ahead of the 2026 election, Yunus has imposed sweeping ban on Awami League, turning a blind eye to the repeated pleas from six international rights bodies to lift the ban as it has been considered extrajudicial and “excessively restricts freedom of association, assembly and expression”. Moreover, half of the 52 registered political parties were left out of electoral dialogue by the Election commission. Dozens of the parties including allies of Awami League (AL) are still unable to get level playing field as Yunus led administration allowed loyalists set fire on party offices of several parties including Jatiya Party. On the other hand, the extent of mass arrests and arbitrary imprisonment reached an alarming extent that even Human Rights Watch issued statement accusing the regime of abusing anti terrorism law to suppress dissenters. So the repeat of cycle of retribution under Yunus regime has been a matter of fact. Yet ignoring these abuses, EU has dispatched one of the largest delegations deploying 56 long-term observers to all 64 districts. Even days back, after meeting with Yunus, the head of the delegation reversed the definition of inclusive polls in comparison with its previous stance in a space of just two years ostensibly to help Yunus. Reports indicate Ivars Ijabs, chief observer of the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) in Bangladesh, said, “From our perspective, inclusiveness means the involvement of all social groups. In the context of Bangladesh, this includes women, all small ethnic communities, religious minority groups and regional groups. By participatory, we mean the credible participation of voters.” By redefining inclusion to serve Yunus’s bid to justify exclusion over dozens of the party including Awami League (AL), the EU official has abdicated their moral ground, a grim testament that will surely cast a dark spell on the EU for years to come. A local journalist referred that EU told Myanmar election a sham one because of lack of participation from the parties among other reasons but now if one take into account the latest definition of inclusion used for Bangladesh to justify Yunus’s narrative then its stance for Myanmar becomes contradictory.
EU Envoy’s Selective Condemnation Over Rising Attacks on Media Outlets and Journalists
After the gruesome arson attack and looting on Prothom Alo and The Daily Star offices, the EU envoy paid a visit to the torched buildings decrying the attacks “terrible for democracy”. Truly, the extent of the attack is deplorable and the statement has been welcomed by many journalists. Even during the arson 28 journalists in The Daily Star office were trapped. On the same night, head offices of two leading cultural organisations that promote tolerance through music and theater were torched in a similar manner reportedly by same Islamist forces. Yet the EU envoy refused to pay visit to those offices despite scores of protests by liberal condemning arson on offices of media and cultural organisations, a marker of his outright bias that ignores the pleas of hundreds of cultural activists. But ironically, arson attacks and vandalism on media offices have not been an isolated under Yunus regime. Even days before the attack on Palo and The Daily Star, a prominent journalist was arrested and thrown behind the bar which was condemned by rights bodies as an attack on freedom of speech. But the EU envoy choose to keep mum, endorsing the justification of Yunus regime to jail journalists. According to The Daily Star, at least 269 journalists and media managers were framed in murder charges, a move to weaponize the trial of July August violence. According to reports, at least six media outlet head offices were vandalized and torched on August 5 under pretext of celebration of regime change. No wonder, no such critical statement came from Media Freedom Coalition, a platform comprised of EU member states and the U.S. Though MFC issued one only after the deadly attacks on these two dailies but remained silent in face of previous cases of attacks. Before the regime change, this MFC has been vocal against the previous regime when journalists were imprisoned and framed. In the face of such silence from MFC, now affected journalists assert that the silence of MFC and the lack of sympathy for persecuted journalists by EU envoy on several occasions during the incumbent regime blew apart the credibility as a vehicle to promote freedom of speech.
EU’s Chief Observer Downplays Communal Violence
Following the meeting between Yunus and the chief observer from EU, Bangladesh’s state-run news agency BSS quoted him as saying “he witnessed positive feelings and strong enthusiasm across the country regarding the upcoming polls and the referendum”. Days later, HRW issued a statement illustrating rising tide of violence on minorities and women and girls ahead of the polls, a stark contrast from the rosy narrative peddled by Yunus and Ijabs. On the other hand, the country’s largest minority platform Hindu Buddhist Christian Okkya Parishad, also voiced concern over the rising tide of violence descended on minorities targeting the polls, the very concerns Ijabs sought to hide in his bid to boost up Yunus. The directive from EU representative for high voter turn-out proved a nightmare for minorities. Some of the minority leader alleged that Islamists and BNP supporters have threatened them with consequences unless they show up on booth and show them presence of indelible ink from polling centers as proof of their appearance. Since the election schedule was announced, at least 10 minorities have been killed while the one was lynched and burnt on charges of blasphemy. Similarly, the EU top envoy refused to acknowledge the series of targeted violence on the minorities under Yunus, while the current wave of attacks on minorities has somewhat contributed to Ijabs and those foreign envoys. Als,o there has been no acknowledgment from the EU over rising attacks on women and the lower participation of women as candidates in the upcoming polls.
EU Envoy’s Refusal to Acknowledge Rights Abuses Under Yunus
According to BBC Bangla report, independent rights bodies decried arbitrary arrests and detentions of thousands without specified charges and pointed out custodial deaths, an alarming rise in recovery of unidentified bodies, and impunity for lynching of dissenters for political belief triggered biggest concerns centering human rights under the current regime. Moreover, not a single word has been raised by the EU envoy over reports of the killing of hundreds of AL leaders and activists since the fall of the AL. But despite his praise for Yunus and the upcoming election, the EU envoy did not speak out publicly against the rights abuses, a deviation that further blew out his claim of neutrality, turning him into an ambassador out to appease Yunus, not to achieve the stated goal of neutrality.
EU Envoy Emboldening Rise of Islamists
According to a report by AFP, Bangladesh’s Islamist groups are mobilising ahead of February 12 elections, determined to gain a foothold in government as they sense their biggest opportunity in decades. No wonder, over the past one and a half year, the never seen before rise in hardliners have been taking a heavy toll on the syncretic culture of Bangladesh’s identity and the groups have vowed to turn the country into a theocratic state attacking minorities liberals and women. Already, surrendering to Jamaat and other outfits demand, the regime shelved the recruitment of music and physical education teachers in primary schools. Also Jamaat’s student front Islami Chhatra Shibir (Shibir) leaders have publicly provoked and justified the attacks on Prothom Alo and The Daily Star and threatened to shut down these newspapers, according to Prothom Alo. Moreover, in 2013, US based IHS Jane’s Global Terrorism & Insurgency Attack Index 2013 ranked Shibir as the third most non state armed group in the world. It’s true that Shibir has secured sweeping victories in student council elections in universities but it is also important to note the violent ideologue these outfits have been spreading and allegations of rigging raised by teachers and BNP’s student fronts involving these elections need to be taken into account. These outfits held record of waging anti-western protests and have been involved in militancy. Back in 2016, during holy artisan attack, militants killed at least 20 foreigners including nine Italians storming into an upscale restaurant. On the other hand, Hefazat e Islam, back in 2013, during siege of Dhaka, also fomented anti-western rhetorics. A Dhaka University Professor, wishing anonymity in fear of retribution told this writer, the striking silence from the western diplomats including EU envoy and the lofty claims of festivity surrounding the polls by EU delegation head would further embolden the Islamists that have been vehemently anti-western. Moreover, the current leadership of BNP has held long record of harboring ties with these Islamists and during the past stint in power, BNP Jamaat alliance sponsored an Islamist revolution in Bangladesh, fueling cross-border terrorism despite their current what many described as staged spat over the election. “They are creating Frankenstein on their own effort, he feared.
Conclusion
In reality, the past elections in Bangladesh have not been perfect. But the current election climate is also not an exercise to establish democracy. Just like these Western diplomats painted a rosy picture with the rise of Yunus in power that turned out horribly wrong, advocacy and endorsement for this election will further stoke division in the youngest nation in South Asia, while the credibility of these Western nations as independent ones before the common people will be tarnished completely. In fifteen months, it became evident that the absence of the Awami League, despite its fair share of criticisms, has not brought stability in the country. Rather, the absence of the party and its allies due to the sweeping ban only encouraged the Islamist eco system, patronized by Yunus.
