Speakers at a roundtable yesterday came down heavily on Myanmar’s de facto leader and Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi for her inaction to protect her Rohingya population in Rakhine state from the violence perpetrated by the armed forces of that country.
Her silence over the oppression on Rohingyas proves that she was not worthy of receiving the Nobel peace prize, they said. Speaking at a ‘Roundtable Discussion on Islam and International Humanitarian Law’ jointly organised by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Delegation in Dhaka and Iran Cultural Centre at the latter’s auditorium, some of the speakers voiced their opinion in favour of taking away the Nobel prize from her.
Suu Kyi, who officially holds the designation of State Councillor, has also been strongly criticised by many from across the world for her inability to protect her own people from the atrocities committed by Myanmar’s armed forces.
Iranian Ambassador to Dhaka Dr Abbas Vaezi Dehnavi attended the discussion as the chief guest while ICRC delegation head Ikhtiyar Aslanov was present as a special guest. Islamic Foundation Director Dr Khizir Hayat Khan presided over the programme and Iranian Cultural Councillor Seyed Mousa Hosseini delivered the address of welcome.
ICRC and Iran Cultural Centre delivered presentations on challenges to the humanitarian action and norms from the perspective of the Islamic Law and International Humanitarian Law. The programme was addressed, among others, by former chairman of Dhaka University law department Dr Maimul Ahsan Khan, ICRC’s Regional Advisor for Humanitarian Affairs based in Jakarta Andrew Bartles-Smith and deputy head of delegation in Dhaka Boris Boris Kelecevic. Strongly condemning the atrocities in Myanmar, Iranian Ambassador Dr Dehnavi criticised the ‘double standard’ policy adopted by the west with regard to terrorism and extremism. “Terrorism by anybody is unacceptable. Double standard in this regard is also not acceptable,” he said. ICRC official from Jakarta Bartles-Smith said that their personnel stationed in Rakhine are trying to get access to the people in need with the permission of the authorities concerned, but to the best of his knowledge the permission has not been granted. To a question, he said that at present the ICRC personnel at two offices in Rakhine are unable to operate freely. Professor Maimul Khan said that the incidents taking place in Rakhine state is nothing but war crimes as happened in Bangladesh in 1971. ICRC Dhaka delegation head described the issue as a burning one saying that many atrocities could be avoided if the states abided by the Geneva Convention.
|
Editor : M. Shamsur Rahman
Published by the Editor on behalf of Independent Publications Limited at Media Printers, 446/H, Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka-1215.
Editorial, News & Commercial Offices : Beximco Media Complex, 149-150 Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka-1208, Bangladesh. GPO Box No. 934, Dhaka-1000.
Editor : M. Shamsur Rahman
Published by the Editor on behalf of Independent Publications Limited at Media Printers, 446/H, Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka-1215.
Editorial, News & Commercial Offices : Beximco Media Complex, 149-150 Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka-1208, Bangladesh. GPO Box No. 934, Dhaka-1000.