BANGLADESH: OPEN TO DIALOGUE BUT NON-COMMITTAL, ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DHAKA 000099

SIPDIS

IO/HR FOR AMY OSTERMEIER, DRL/IRF FOR JOANNELLA MORALES

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/01/2020
TAGS: PHUM PREL UN KVIR PINR BG
SUBJECT: BANGLADESH: OPEN TO DIALOGUE BUT NON-COMMITTAL, ON
DEFAMATION OF RELIGIONS

Classified By: Ambassador James F. Moriarty. Reasons 1.4(b) and (d).

Summary
--------------

1. (C) During a visit by DRL Senior Advisor Ambassador
Michael Kozak, the Government of Bangladesh (GOB) expressed
its openness to alternatives to a United Nations resolution
banning defamation of religions. Interlocutors stressed
Bangladesh,s commitment to religious tolerance and
fundamental human rights. The Foreign Secretary, Secretary
for the Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Law Minister
welcomed the USG,s initiative on this issue but remained
non-committal about their government,s participation.
Members of civil society spoke of the need for communal
harmony and of their desire for separation of church and
state.

Values-based Bangladesh Foreign Policy?
--------------


2. (C) Foreign Secretary Mohamed Mijarul Quayes, welcomed
Ambassador Kozak,s visit and explained that Bangladesh had
been born out of a commitment to democracy, electoral rights
and cultural identity. Quayes said Bangladesh would pursue a
foreign policy based upon values. Quayes added that during
the Cold War, the international community witnessed the
emergence of "global ghettoes" and said that with today,s
challenges there was a pressing need to build bridges between
countries. Ambassador Kozak acknowledged that UN resolutions
on defamation of religions were the result of a real problem
of discrimination against Muslims in Europe. He expressed
the United States, desire, however, to move the issue away
from endless debates on UN resolutions and towards concrete
action at the domestic level, namely strengthening laws to
prevent hate crimes while building in greater protections for
free speech. Ambassador Kozak emphasized that more free
speech and tolerance were the best antidotes to hate speech.
He presented a copy of the U.S. Action Plan to the Foreign
Secretary.

Bangladesh to Facilitate Broader Discussion
--------------


3. (C) The Foreign Secretary agreed on the need for
dialogue and said that Bangladesh would be happy to engage in
a broader discussion about the issue. He emphasized that
Bangladesh was a land of multiple faiths with protections
against religious discrimination. He encouraged the USG to
take a middle ground between the Organization for Islamic
Conference (OIC) countries and the European Union and to
facilitate such a dialogue. Quayes also stated that there
needed to be fewer resolutions in the UN Human Rights
Council. Ambassador Kozak suggested that Bangladesh could
perform a bridging role within the OIC in this regard and
pointed out that we wanted to offer a concrete alternative to
the current OIC resolution.

Bangladesh as a Model for Religious Tolerance?
-------------- -


4. (C) The Secretary of the Ministry for Religious
Affairs, Abdur Rauf Howlader, welcomed the U.S. position and
stated that the GOB was very pleased to hear of our
"constructive approach" to the problem of religious
intolerance. Howlader reiterated the country,s commitment
to communal harmony and the constitution,s guarantee for
freedom from discrimination based upon religion and sex. The
Secretary also pointed out that the GOB had partnered with
the USG on initiatives to promote tolerance, like the Leaders
of Influence Program, and said that we could be assured of
further collaboration. He promised that the Ministry would
carefully review the U.S. Action Plan and provide comments.

Democracy as a Bulwark of Secularism
--------------


5. (C) Law Minister, Barrister Shafique Ahmed, welcomed
our points and stated that religious freedom was one of the
fundamental principles of state policy enshrined in the
constitution. He remarked that the GOB is "fully with you."
The Law Minister emphasized that democracy could not flourish
if religion entered politics, citing the examples of

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Afghanistan and Pakistan. Ambassador
Kozak agreed that government,s role was not to promote
religion. Ahmed also added that the voters of Bangladesh had
given the Awami League government a mandate based upon
secularism. The Minister said his government did not want to
ban expressions of religion but rather to crush violent
extremism.

Civil Society on the Cutting Edge?
--------------


6. (C) During a roundtable discussion with the Ambassador,
scholars from all the major religions and members of
faith-based organizations categorically stated that communal
harmony should be the ultimate goal of any "good" society.
They agreed that the government should not discriminate based
upon religion and noted that Bangladesh was already putting
into practice many of the ideas the U.S. was advocating. The
leader of the Ahmadiya (minority Muslim sect) community in
Bangladesh opined that religion and politics should exist as
separate entities, pointing out that Islam had survived 1400
years without litigation. A Professor of Religion from Dhaka
University stated that politicians in the country had abused
religion for political purposes, for example when Islam was
made a state religion. Agreeing with the principles
enshrined in the U.S. initiative, roundtable participants
concurred that the best antidotes to communal problems were
education and interfaith dialogue at the local level.

Comment
--------------


7. (C) The GOB is open to the U.S. position on the
defamation issue but remains non-committal. Particularly at
the higher political levels, this issue plays well to a
government which is trying to emphasize Bangladesh,s secular
identity. The stumbling block may well be at the
bureaucratic level in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which
is wedded to traditional voting patterns and to a desire not
to push controversial positions within the OIC or G-77. In
many respects, civil society is far ahead of the GOB on this
issue and can serve as another pressure point with the
government. Post will continue to engage with the GOB on
this subject at all levels.
MORIARTY