The Bangladesh Journal - Hasina urges international community to persuade CG for early polls

Awami League (AL) President Sheikh Hasina, now in London, has urged the international community to persuade the military-backed caretaker government to hold free and fair elections in the country at the earliest.

"We want the international community to put pressure on the caretaker government to hold free and fair elections at the earliest," said the AL chief at a lecture on "Democracy and Human Rights in Bangladesh" at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in the University of London Wednesday night Bangladesh time.

Speaking at the event, member of British Parliament Jeremy Corbyn told Hasina that Britain, being a major trading partner and donor of Bangladesh, would like to see that the caretaker government holds an early election.

The Centre for Ethnic Minority Studies of SOAS organised the lecture with Prof Werner Menski in the chair.

The AL chief was scheduled to meet Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon at 11:00pm yesterday Bangladesh time.

People in Bangladesh were being deprived of their freedom of speech and human rights, Indian daily Deccan Herald, Press Trust of India (PTI) and Indian news channel NDTV said quoting Hasina, former prime minister of Bangladesh.

"We are struggling for our democratic rights," she said adding that there were 19 attempts on her life so far and in the last attack, 24 people including 22 of her party men were killed.

The AL president said, "The electoral machinery and judiciary were politicised and the electoral rolls manipulated during the regime of Khaleda Zia government. We wanted the caretaker government to correct the electoral rolls and hold fair and free elections."

"According to the constitution, the election had to be held within 90 days but so far they have not even started revising the electoral roll. Instead of being a caretaker government it has become a takeover government," the Deccan Herald quoted the former prime minister as saying.

"I am leaving London on the 6th [May 6], reaching Dhaka on the 7th. After that I do not know what will happen. I am prepared to make any sacrifices [for restoration of democracy]," Hasina said.

She was supposed to return to Bangladesh in the last week of April but the caretaker government imposed a ban on her return on April 18, issued arrest warrant against her and asked the British Airways not to issue her a boarding pass. The ban was, however, lifted on April 25.

Corbyn said it was strange that the caretaker government levelled charges of murder and extortion against Hasina and when she said she would return and face the charges, the regime imposed a ban on her return.