LONDON: After over 2-hour-long debate at the House of Commons of UK Parliament on Bangladesh, British Lawmakers came to a same point of suggestion that only constructive dialogue, not violence or political harassment, can dissolve the ongoing political crisis of Bangladesh.

The British lawmakers came up the urge in a resolution passed at its House of Commons after a long debate on Thursday.

With Deputy Speaker Lindsey Holy in the chair, the debate was attended by British Lawmakers Rushanara Ali, David Lidington, Jeremy Corbyn, Jim Fitzpatrick, Gavin Shuker, Richard Fuller, John Hemming, Bob Blackman, Neil Parish, Gavin Shuker, Kerry McCarthy, Nick de Bois, Rehman Chishti, Mark Lazarowicz, Mark Field, Martin Horwood, Nic Dakin, Jonathan, Jonathan Ashworth, Simon Danczuk and Mark Lazarowicz.

The debate began with the speech of Anne Main. In her speech, she said: “The democratic process of Bangladesh improved nothing between 2006 and the latest election in 2014. That is deeply disappointing given the amount of the British aid budget that goes into supporting the strengthening of democracy in Bangladesh, such as the training of civil servants.”

Bangladeshi-born British MP Rushanara Ali said: “Bangladesh is the most vulnerable country to climate change, which will lead to some 20 million to 30 million climate refugees in the coming decades. People also face grinding poverty, despite the achievements that have been made on reaching some of the millennium development goals, tackling poverty and promoting girls’ education.

There have been some examples of success, but also political unrest and governance challenges, and the major political parties have failed to find a way of moving towards and achieving free and fair elections. They must focus on the challenges facing one of the most populous countries with a majority Muslim population, not to mention the important minority communities of Hindus, Buddhists, Christians and many others that make up the country and built the nation based on values that we can all share. The leaders of Bangladesh should focus on all the challenges that I have mentioned.”

David Lidington said, “All of Bangladesh’s political parties share a clear and unequivocal responsibility to work together to strengthen democratic accountability as an urgent priority and to build the willingness and capacity for Bangladesh to hold fully participatory parliamentary elections without the fear of intimidation or reprisals. I am pleased that the Bangladesh Nationalist party has announced a suspension of its blockade programme and that Begum Zia has publicly condemned violence, including attacks on minorities. That is a positive step, although we would welcome further bold moves by both political parties that lead to dialogue between them. Above all, it is important that the political parties put the interests of the Bangladeshi people first.”

British Labour Party politician Jeremy Bernard Corbyn said: “Political instability and feuding in Bangladesh will harm the country’s prospects of attracting the investment that its people so desperately need.  

Bangladesh is an important partner of the United Kingdom, not least through the Commonwealth and our links to the British Bangladeshi community that contributes so much to our society. We continue to support the people of Bangladesh in their aspirations for a more stable, prosperous and democratic future. We urge all political leaders and parties in Bangladesh to shoulder their responsibilities to bring that about, and to commit themselves to a peaceful political process through constructive dialogue.”

Jim Fitzpatrick said: “I and other colleagues met minority groups based in the UK. They were citizens demonstrating in Parliament square to raise their concerns about the violent attacks on Sikhs, Hindus, Christians and others in Bangladesh, which occur regularly at election time. Those attacks must be condemned. Jamaat supporters have been accused of orchestrating a lot of them, but whatever their source, they must be stopped. Both the main parties need to do more to protect the minority communities and to condemn all political, ethnic, religious or cultural violence.”

Gavin Shuker said: “Our relationships with Bangladesh are obviously political. They cross diaspora communities. They come from a deep-rooted sense of values and a shared history. But the future of those relationships relies upon us treating Bangladesh as a country that can step up to the requirements of being a modern world economy. Through our participation and all the ways we can exercise our agency here in the UK, we should work with a clear sense that majority rule, minority rights and true shared decision making will create the only future path for the people of Bangladesh. In that light, I hope that this debate will go a long way towards pointing out the future direction for the people of that fantastic country.”

Richard Fuller said: “Many Members have rightly observed that we should look at the actions of both political parties and should not take sides. That is fair, but only up to a point. I believe that a particular responsibility lies with the governing party of the day. As I list these steps, I think it will become clear, in the case of each of them, that there were decisions to be made, that those decisions were made by the governing party and that, as a result, that governing party is accountable for them. I hope that the Minister will convey to us some of his thoughts about the actions that he would like the current Government of Bangladesh to have undertaken in each instance.”

All the lawmakers have cleared their positions in the speech that they are against communal violence in Bangladesh and want a quick solution to ongoing political stalemate through constructive dialogue between Awami League and BNP.

BDST: 1330 HRS, JAN 17, 2014
Edited By: Abul Kalam Azad/ Rubaiat Saky/ Senior Newsroom Editors