Hold talks, stop violence

Deeply worried by the escalation of political violence in Bangladesh, 16 foreign envoys have urged Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia to hold talks for a peaceful resolution of the crisis.

Diplomatic sources said ambassadors, high commissioners and charges d'affaires of different foreign missions in Dhaka sent separate letters to the two leaders last week.

They said the international community was concerned as the political situation was pushing Bangladesh dangerously to a deepening crisis.

Envoys of Australia, Canada, Denmark, the European Union, France, Germany, Japan, The Netherlands, Norway, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States signed the letters.

Sources said the envoys in their letter to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina sought concrete ways to de-escalate the situation and to engage constructively with the opposition.

They also expressed their concern on the shrinking democratic space for the opposition, and underlined that peace and stability would be critical for economic development.

In the letter to Khaleda Zia, the diplomats deplored the ongoing violence and disruption in the country that has resulted in many deaths, casualties and destruction of property.

The diplomats reiterated their strong stance against of any form of violence and urged her to immediately halt the violence that they believe is seriously affecting innocent citizens of Bangladesh.

Sources said the letters came in the wake of a series of unsuccessful diplomatic efforts to persuade the ruling Awami League and its archrival BNP to reach an agreement to end the stalemate.

The diplomats in Dhaka have been working informally to bring the two parties closer and forge a consensus to this end for the past few weeks, according to sources.

"We are very much concerned about the violence and the loss of life that's occurred in Bangladesh since the beginning of this year …. We continue to deplore the loss of life," one of the signatory ambassadors told The Daily Star yesterday.

Asked about the letter, the envoy said their key message "is for a peaceful resolution to the ongoing crisis.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has already tasked his deputy Oscar Fernández-Taranco to liaise with the Bangladesh government and the opposition, and written to the PM and the BNP chief urging them to engage constructively for a peaceful end to the crisis.

US Secretary of State John Kerry on February 20 called for government action to peacefully end the turmoil. He also condemned the targeting of civilians by political parties and stressed the need for opposition parties to cease such attacks immediately.