Nisha Desai Biswal remembers Xulhaz Mannan in Dhaka, talks on combating extremism

US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Nisha Desai Biswal, talking at the US embassy in Dhaka, has remembered the slain USAID staff Xulhaz Mannan and discussed combating terrorism and extremism with the government.

She arrived in Dhaka on Wednesday, days after Secretary of State John Kerry called up Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and stated that he would send Biswal soon to discuss the security situation in Bangladesh after the murder on Apr 25.

Xulhaz, who was also an LGBT rights activist, was hacked to death along with his friend Mahbub Rabbi Tonoy at an apartment in the capital Dhaka’s Kalabagan area.

“Xulhaz Mannan embodied courage and selflessness and his legacy will live on in the causes he championed,” Biswal tweeted after she attended a programme to share memories of Xulhaz at the embassy.

Before the programme, she met foreign minister AH Mahmood Ali, state minister for foreign affairs Md Shahriar Alam and foreign secretary Md Shahidul Haque at the state guesthouse Padma.

She described the meeting as “important” in a separate tweet, and said they had discussed the “US-Bangladesh partnership and combating terrorism & extremism”.

She is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday before leaving Dhaka.

The Islamic State (IS) and al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) have reportedly claimed the responsibility of recent killings of secular writers, online activists and liberal publishers in Bangladesh.

The Bangladesh government, however, denies the existence of IS or AQIS in the country and claims that the killings were masterminded by ‘home-grown Islamist radicals’.

Kerry, during the phone talk, urged Hasina to ensure “thorough investigation of all these incidents,” and “redouble law enforcement efforts” to prevent future attacks and protect those who are at risk.