US Ban On RAB

File photo Foreign Minister A.K. Abdul Momen, photo of RAB in set

United States' allegations against RAB are baseless: Foreign Minister

A.K. Abdul Momen said despite the fact that 600 people have been reported missing in Bangladesh in last 10 years, millions of people are going missing every year and thousands of people are dying because of police. People talk a lot about little things here. It is called 'Extra Judicial Killing'. These are the material of laughter. Their ban was not correct. There is a room for reconsideration.

On December 10 last year, Foreign Minister A.K. Abdul Momen gave a formal response to the US sanctions on the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and its present and former officers. The letter signed by Foreign Minister Dr. Momen was sent on December 31 through the embassy.

The Foreign Minister said, "I have had telephonic conversations with Blinken before. I wrote exactly that in the letter which we had discussed then. He expressed his government's concern over the state of democracy and human rights in our country. I wrote in the letter that democracy in our country is not a recent practice. That time when America was not discovered, there was democracy in the region even in the sixth century. Jadu was elected by the people with a mandate. So, our experience of democracy is very old. The birth of our country is for democracy. These are the foundations of our nation."

He said the relationship between Bangladesh and US is 50 years old, and in light of all these, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has requested in written to lift the ban. However, no reply to the letter has been received yet. They are now on Christmas vacation. I don't even know wheather the letter has reached him yet.

Executive Director Mahbub Sobhani Chowdhury delivered the welcome address at the meeting chaired by Moin Uddin Ahmed Chowdhury, the founder chairman of Zamzam Bangladesh.