Bangladesh’s prime minister has dismissed accusations
that democracy and rule of law are being undermined by her increasingly
authoritarian behaviour and by widespread human rights abuses by the
police and security forces.
In a wide-ranging
interview in Dhaka, Sheikh Hasina Wazed , Bangladesh’s formidable,
long-serving head of government rejected claims that extra-judicial
killings, numerous so-called “enforced disappearances”, mass arrests of
opposition activists and Islamists, and new restrictions on media and
internet freedoms were turning the world’s third largest Muslim nation
into a repressive, de facto one-party state.
“My job
is to assist the common people,” Hasina said. “I do politics for the
people, not for me ... People are enjoying democracy now. What people
want is their basic needs. So I’m trying to help people ensure their
basic need, that means food security, healthcare, education, and job
opportunity and a better life.
“By 2021 Bangladesh
will be a middle-income country and by 2041 Bangladesh will be a
developed country ... All the democratic institutions are working and
people are satisfied and people are enjoying it. So the way you say I am
dominating, I am not dominating. I am serving people.” She flatly
rejected claims that the security services, implicated in numerous
so-called “crossfire” killings, were beyond constitutional or
parliamentary control.
Hasina said her ruling Awami
League (AL) government had allowed an unprecedented expansion in
privately—controlled television channels, newspapers and online media
since the 1990s.
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