Myanmar Exhibiting Audacity due to ‘Govt’s Knee-Jerk Policy’: BNP

On Friday, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir alleged that the Myanmar army is displaying audacity by mobilizing troops along the Bangladesh border because of the 'knee-jerk foreign policy' of the government, reports UNB.

"The Myanmar army is showing the audacity to fully empower and unjustifiably mobilize troops along the Bangladesh-Myanmar international border, taking full advantage of the weak foreign policy of our country," said BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

He also said at a press conference at the Gulshan office of BNP chairperson, "On behalf of BNP, I strongly protest and condemn the Myanmar army's deployment of such an army. I urge the present subservient government to take interregional diplomatic measures in addition to all-out preparations to prevent Myanmar from such evil actions."

The BNP leader said the government is not raising its voice against Myanmar's unjustified deployment of troops. "There has been a major outcry over the deployment of troops along the Indo-China frontier, but our government is quiet about the deployment of Myanmar's army."

He alleged that the Rohingya crisis has not been resolved over the three years due to the government’s ‘inaction’. "They (govt) only has written a letter to the Security Council silently. So far, the government has not taken any effective step to resolve the Rohingya issue.”

Fakhrul said the deployment of Myanmar's army along the border is a product of the subservient policy of the Bangladesh government and its inability to increase pressure on the neighboring country to take back its nearly 12 Lakh people who took refuge in Cox's Bazar in the face of mass murder, ethnic cleansing and unrestricted repression.

“This isolated government has failed to take multifaceted and coordinated efforts that are necessary to resolve the Rohingya crisis. "We’re failing at all levels, globally--regionally and bilaterally--to address this issue,” he observed.

The BNP leader said Rohingya problem is getting complicated since the government has failed to convince the friendly countries to help Bangladesh overcome the crisis created by Myanmar.

"We need to keep in mind that the Rohingyas are the most oppressed community in the world. In order to keep this population alive on the world map, there’s no alternative to rehabilitating them in their homeland with due civil rights and dignity by turning Rakhine State in Myanmar a safe zone under international management and civilian supervision," he opined.

Fakhrul urged the government to restore democracy and people's right to vote on the basis of national consensus to gain international community’s confidence, acceptance and sympathy to overcome the Rohingya crisis.

He said that during their rules on the repatriation of displaced Rohingya, the government may follow the procedures and deals signed by Ziaur Rahman and Khaleda Zia to succeed in overcoming the current crisis.

The BNP leader said the government has no position at the international level to create pressure on Myanmar to take its citizens back.  “In particular, China and India, who can play the most important role and influence Myanmar, have taken a negative stance over the matter. So, interregional diplomatic efforts are crucial to have this problem resolved.”