Dhaka-based diplomats want an end to the current violence in Bangladesh

A group of Dhaka-based diplomats, mostly from the West, has called for an end to the ongoing violence in Bangladesh that has left more than 100 people killed, mostly by fire-bombings.

The BNP and its allies are enforcing the violent transport blockade and general strikes since Jan 5, marking the first anniversary of the 10th parliamentary elections that it boycotted.

Amid ongoing impasse, Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali briefed high commissioners and ambassadors of Australia, Canada, Denmark, the EU, France, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, UK and the US on Sunday as part of his “regular engagements”.

After the briefing, Australian High Commission issued a statement on behalf of the group.

They called for “an end to the current violence”.

According to the statement, they encouraged Bangladesh during the meeting to adopt “confidence-building measures – including the de-escalation of Bangladesh’s political conflict”.

Such measures, they said, were required “in the interest of safety, stability, growth, human rights and democracy in Bangladesh”.

“As friends and partners of Bangladesh, the group welcomed the meeting... and will continue to express its common hopes to all sides,” said the statement.

The foreign ministry earlier said Mahmood Ali briefed the diplomats about the “latest trends in the violent and terrorist acts being perpetrated by the BNP-Jamaat combine since Jan 5”.

It said the envoys underscored the need for the people of Bangladesh to find a solution to the prevailing situation.

The envoys called for the return of calm and stability in order to sustain the momentum of Bangladesh’s impressive socio-economic development gains. Ali reiterated the government’s “firm” commitment to contain the violence and ensure protection for people in general from the indiscriminate attacks by the BNP-Jamaat miscreants.

He said that BNP-Jamaat alliance was directly playing up “an extremist agenda” in order “to challenge the democratic, non-communal and non-confrontational ethos of the country”.

He said “their recent cowardly acts like throwing petrol bombs at passenger vehicles are almost akin to the terror tactics used by ISIS and others”.

The minister urged the international community to condemn such violence and atrocities in “unequivocal terms”.

He also reaffirmed the government's position “not to engage with parties that resorted to terror tactics in the name of political activities”.