Why wash dirty linen in public?

Last week, a high powered delegation from the ruling Awami League and another one from the main opposition BNP travelled to London to sit with select members of the British House of Lords, the House of Commons as well with the members of the European Parliament, to answer questions on the present political situation in Bangladesh under the rubric of human rights situation in the country. According to press reports, the meeting could not start on time because uninvited supporters of both the parties had gate-crashed into the event. Chairperson Lord Avebury had to clear the room before the proceedings began.
The meeting started with a narration by a researcher from the Amnesty International, who had recently visited Begumganj in Bangladesh to know what happened there when the minority community (read Hindu families) was attacked. First the Jamaat-e-Islami cadres, according to him, had attacked 75 families there and torched their houses. Then elements from the ruling Awami League and the BNP repeatedly looted the belongings of the victims. So he concluded that the government had failed to provide security to the minority community in Bangladesh. His advice was that all political parties must make an electoral pledge that in future they will protect the minority community in Bangladesh.
Lord Avebury then made some initial remarks. He reportedly began with the reasons why Bangladesh was not able to progress much economically. He brought out the twin problem of large-scale tax evasion and illegal transfer of money by certain individuals abroad. In this connection he mentioned about the results of a recent survey conducted by Transparency International which had pinpointed three sectors that were perceived as corruption ridden. They were the political parties, the police and the judiciary.
Then Avebury dwelt on the trials of those accused of war crimes by the International War Crimes Tribunal in Bangladesh. He pointed out that the trials were much below international standards because the government, when instituting the courts, had not followed the recommendations of Ambassador Stephen Rapper. He then sought assurances from the representatives of both the major parties that they will not choose the street to resolve their political differences in the future.
European Parliament member Dr. Charles Tannock, however, praised the way the recent city elections in Bangladesh were held and hoped that future elections in the country would be held in a similar free and fair manner. On the specific question of instituting a caretaker government to supervise the holding of the next general elections, he thought that this question was best left to the political parties of Bangladesh to decide.
Later, Bangladeshi born Labor party MP Raushanara Ali and other MPs and Lords present spoke. Raushanara, however, in a heady way warned that our politicians should in no way try to influence the British MPs to their own political line of thinking as this inevitably has the opposite effect on them. This led them to be disillusioned about the state of affairs in the country and a loss of interest in the affairs of Bangladesh because they feel that in case they disagree with the views of a political party they are bound to be stereotyped as supporters of the other political party.
In the two hours plus meeting, other than airing and defending their own point of view, nothing substantive came out of the discussions. Lord Avebury is a past orchestrator of political discussions with our political leaders and national stakeholders. Records show that he has over the years commented on the state of affairs of politics in this country. Sometimes his suggestions registered well with our leaders, if it suited their agenda. On most occasions, they fell by the wayside. At best, such meetings had allowed the party in power and the opposition politicians to sit in a room and air their views. This is exactly why the parliament in our country has also been set up for.
But let it be said that Bangladesh has moved forward recently. So have the countries from where parliamentarians and politicians come and sit down in London to advise, cajole and at times reprimand our politicians. The enthusiasm with which our leaders rush to London to attend such hearings is becoming increasingly irrelevant. As our parliament awakens from its slumber, our leaders too are becoming increasingly aware of the national issues, thanks to the national print and electronic media. They are gradually realising that third party analyses, while being informative, are not critical anymore. Also that politicians coming from Europe do not carry the same esteem that they enjoyed in the past. They have their own blemishes to contend with. In fact, the exercises that take place in London each year are just an expression of mutual respect and trust which had devolved from history and nothing more.
Bangladesh has a distinct record of accomplishments in the political, economic and social fields. We also have our challenges. So have been our responses been exciting. Let no one say our politicians are pursuing the attention of elected representatives or non-elected peers from friendly countries for their gratuitous support and goodwill. The Raushanara Alis must stop misunderstanding us and start being reticent on such count.
On our part, we must stop washing our dirty linen in public. This tendency to cozy up to foreigners when we are in political trouble at home must stop. This is what spineless and principle-less politicians have done throughout history. It is immensely embarrassing to hear chatter and read transcripts from non- accountable foreign politicians on matters that are our very own. While being completely transparent on issues that are of public interest there is no reason why we should allow our political swill to be spilled all over the world. We are in no way obligated to do so.
Our politicians must take heed. Like elephants, the people have a long memory.

The writer is a former ambassador and a commentator on current affairs.
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