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Bangladesh government distances itself from lawsuit registered against Biden, Blinken in US.
Foreign Minister AK Momen questions the motive of the plaintiffs and confirms that Dhaka has no clue about the lawsuit
Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 5 July 2023, 01:27 AM
Updated : 5 July 2023, 01:27 AM
Bangladesh’s top diplomat has made it clear that his government has had no link with the men who recently filed a lawsuit at a US court, accusing President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken of “unconstitutionally and unjustifiably obstructing the economic development of Bangladesh and damaging the country’s image”.
Terming the plaintiffs “opportunists”, Foreign Minister AK Momen said the trio who filed the lawsuits might have some “ulterior motives”.
“I don’t know about these. It would be best if you ask them,” he said when a journalist asked him about the government’s position on the lawsuit, which drew serious attention on Bangladeshi social media.
In a recent Facebook post, Rabbi Alam, who introduced himself as the president and chairman, respectively, of two little-known organisations called US Bangabandhu Parishad (council) and US Bangabandhu Commission, said he, along with two other like-minded men, registered the lawsuit with the US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, based in Detroit.
In the lawsuit, Rabbi and his fellow plaintiffs jointly sought a ruling from the court against Biden and Blinken for their “collaborative attempt to undermine Bangladesh’s democracy” by rolling out a visa restriction policy in May this year. The court has yet to decide whether the lawsuit will enter the trial stage.
Under the new visa policy, the United States will be able to restrict the issuance of visas for any Bangladeshi individual believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, undermining the democratic election process in Bangladesh.
Many believe the US policy was aimed at the current administration, which was accused of vote-rigging and muzzling the opposition in two consecutive general elections in 2014 and 2018,
The Sheikh Hasina-led government vehemently denied all these accusations and officially “welcomed” the policy, saying Dhaka would take steps to curb any “unlawful practices or interference in the country’s elections”.
The US Constitution gives the US President carte blanche to shape its foreign policy.
MOMEN QUESTIONS PLAINTIFFS’ ‘AWAMI LEAGUE’ TAG
When Momen was approached on Tuesday about the lawsuit, he questioned the plaintiffs' motive.
“I don’t know; maybe he wanted 15 minutes of fame. Some people do that, you know,” he said.
However, he confirmed that his ministry had no clue about the motive behind the lawsuit and referred the journalists to ask these questions to Rabbi.
Momen, however, did opine that he does not believe the plaintiffs are “true Awami Leaguers” at heart.
“Are you sure they are true Awami Leaguers? Or self-styled? Since many sleazy people these days take selfies with senior Awami League leaders and later introduce themselves as fellow Awami Leaguers to take advantage.”
A US-based journalist, who did not want to reveal his identity, confirmed http://bdnews24.com that Rabbi is well-known in the US diaspora community as a “litigious person” who registered a handful of lawsuits to garner attention before.
