Pakistani High Commission Accused Of Interference In The Bangladesh Election Process

Pakistan high commission in Dhaka has been accused of interfering in the election process and the internal affairs of Bangladesh by the Sheikh Hasina-led government of the country, Economic Times has reported.

According to the report, Pakistan’s role in internal politics of Bangladesh came to fore when the previous week, charge d`affaires of the Pakistan High Commission in Dhaka, Shah Faisal Kakar and defence adviser Brigadier Kamran Nazir Malik, met with three leaders of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) on several occasions.

Between last Monday (3 November) and Thursday (6 November), the officials of Pakistani High commission on a number of occasions met senior leaders of BNP at separate restaurants in Dhaka’s posh locality Gulshan.

As per the report, the BNP leaders under scanner for the meetings are the standing committee members of the party, Mirza Abbas, Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain and former minister, Barrister Aminul Haque. However, top BNP leader Abdul Awal Mintoo has claimed that these meetings took place without the approval of the party.

Dhaka, earlier this year, had refused to accept Pakistan’s new envoy to the country after allegations of the Pakistani diplomatic mission being misused to further activities of ISI against India and Bangladesh. Islamabad had nominated Saqlain Syedah as its new envoy to Dhaka but Sheikh Hasina government refused to accept her.

Pakistan has supported BNP, which is known for bashing India and Awami League of Sheikh Hasina, and its radical ally Jamaat-e-Islami since the 1970s. BNP leader Khaleda Zia had also been accused of accepting cash from the ISI for funding elections.