Bangladesh will appeal to India if Dhaka does not get justice at the end of the final process of the trial in the Felani murder case.
‘It’s a tragic murder. We wanted to know the details of the trial process. We will definitely appeal if we do not get justice finally,’ foreign minister Dipu Moni told a regular press briefing at the foreign ministry on Thursday.
The General Security Forces Court of the Indian BSF in Pashchim Banga on
September 5 acquitted its soldier Amya Ghosh of the charge of killing 15-year-old Bangladeshi girl Felani Khatun while she was crossing over the barbed wire fence at Anantapur of Phulbari in Kurigram on January 7, 2011.
Asked if Dhaka received any explanation from India about its plan to deploy drones at Bangladesh border, Dipu said she has seen the report in newspapers and sought Delhi’s explanation. She said Dhaka has not received any official response.
Asked about the fate of the Land Boundary Agreement and sharing of the Teesta water, she said although Delhi has agreed on these two issues, due to internal politics in India the matters have been delayed.
Expressing hope that the issues would be settled one day, Dipu said the LBA agreement was not signed between the two parties or two governments but by the two states. It may not be signed in two months but it must be signed, time and date for which cannot be stated now, she added.
Asked what Dhaka received during the present government in exchange of giving New Delhi so many things including passage of Over Dimensional Cargoes to Tripura, handing over ULFA leaders and now giving electricity corridor, Dipu said Bangladesh-India relation is multi-dimensional which has been expanded putting an end to hositile relations of the past.
She said Bangladesh got duty-free access to Indian market, 24-hour access to Tin Bigha corridor, electricity supply to Dahagram and Angorpota enclaves and setting up grid connection to import of electricity from India. Besides, she said India gave $1 billion Line of Credit of which $200 million was later given as grant to be used in the construction of the Padma Bridge.
Regarding the Teesta deal, Dipu reiterated the negotiation on the sharing of the water was at the final stage but due to West Bengal chief minister’s stiff opposition the deal could not be signed. She said Bangladesh and India are now negotiating the joint management of the river basin and generation of hydro-electricity and a joint working group is working on these.
Asked what caused prime minister Sheikh Hasina to change her decision to attend the UN general assembly in New York, she said the prime minister first decided not to go to UNGA because of her party’s scheduled programmes like her meetings with grassroots leaders. But she changed her decision at the request of the Bangladesh permanent representative to the UN as the UNGA this year will deal with important issues of the Millennium Development Goals where Bangladesh scored big successes.
Moreover, the UN itself wanted the Bangladesh prime minister’s participation in the high level meetings on the MDGs where Bangladesh would explain its position about the 2015 sustainable development.
Dipu said the opposition’s comments about the prime minister’s NY visit were not responsible statements.
Asked about Dhaka’s diplomatic efforts to arrange a meeting between the prime minister and US president Obama, Dipu said they never sought to hold such meetings during the UNGA in New York. She said the prime minister will have courtesy meeting with the US president during a reception he will be hosting in honour of the heads of governments in New York.
Asked whether telephone calls and sending letters to the Bangladeshi leaders by foreign dignitaries is violation of the protocol sidetracking the foreign ministry, Dipu said this reflected Bangladesh’s growing importance to its foreign friends who showed concern about the coming elections.
Asked what would be Dhaka’s reply, she said the prime minister is always open for holding dialogue with the opposition parties. But when the prime minister invited the opposition leader for dialogue, she responded to the prime minister’s offer with 48-hour ultimatum and unprecedented violence on May 5 and 6.
The foreign minister said the coming general elections will be held as per constitution and any mechanism over election-time interim government problem must be worked out within the ambit of the constitution.
About government move to file cases against Muhammad Yunus for evasion of income tax, she said whatever has been done about the Grameen Bank and its former managing director was done within the law of the land, and future actions will also be taken with the due process.
-With New Age input
