I recently came across reports about the possible appointment of a fresh US ambassador to Bangladesh while scrolling through Twitter on a new morning. Peter Haas may also go down as the most influential US minister in Bangladesh’s new history, but David Meale appeared to be on the verge of taking over.
Actually for a brief moment, the idea of a foreign minister exerting major impact in a democratic country of 180 million might look strange. But Bangladesh’s history of political instability has created opportunities for additional actors to act, exercise their authority and form the country’s course in many ways.
I had a casual conversation with a reputed senior journalist who I viewed as a mentor, and this unpleasant reality first came to mind. Over tea and biscuits, he dropped a facts weapon:” Faisal”, he said, “remember, in Bangladesh, just three people truly hold influence: the Prime Minister, the Indian High Commissioner and the US Ambassador”.
Years later, as my monitoring expanded from focusing on business and equipment to focusing on the wider social scenery, I realized his words were deep wisdom. They were unquestionably accurate.
Consider the time leading up to Bangladesh’s January 2024 federal election. For more than a year, the US Ambassador’s every shift was monitored and scrutinized below by a captivated state. Has accurred to prominence in news stories, yet for seemingly unimportant things like a home excursion to neighboring India.
Ambassador Haas was elevated to a prophecy position on chat shows and YouTube programs run by expelled Bangladeshis and well-known experts. Individuals hoped he would intervene and stop Bangladesh from becoming an totalitarian state.
Under the Biden administration, the expectation was that he would somehow re-establish voting right and a functioning democratic system, enabling Bangladesh to experience real politics, something the US supports internationally.
Haas a family brand
Well, that assumption on Haas was n’t simply false. Following the US’s sanctions against the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and seven of its major former leaders only three months prior, he arrived in Bangladesh in March 2022.
A Bangladeshi military unit called RAB was accused of serious human rights violations, including judicial killings and disappearances involving political opponents of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who has for the past ten and a half decades been in power in the South Asian country with an extraordinary iron grip.
Ambassador Haas had a huge success in Bangladesh since his appearance, giving prior consideration to meetings with human rights organizations and significant political parties. His numerous press appearances have been covered extensively in relation to the importance of completely, fair, and all-royal elections.
Some economists believed that his statements reflected a change in US plan. They saw it as a departure from examining Bangladesh only through the lens of India, as had been assumed for a while.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party ( BNP ) gained new life as a result of the perceived support of the US. The group held significant rallies all over the country despite being plagued by various politically motivated legal cases brought against its users.
Regular Bangladeshis anticipated a better outcome in the future vote after going through two contested elections with restricted voting rights.
When the US made a fresh card plan for Bangladesh in late March of last year, the anticipation increased. According to that plan, the US would impede its visa applications for those found to be obstructing the election process. The news had a major influence on Bangladeshi world.
This is because Bangladeshis who are looking for education or employment opportunities have long sought out the US as their best place. It’s also broadly understood in Bangladesh that the US has considerable control over the government’s connections with other world powers, including the European Union, UK, Canada and Australia.
A restriction on US visa may also make it harder to obtain permits from these nations.
All kinds of rumors and rumors were fueled by the US card policy’s large nature. Popular due to a restricted local media environment, Bangladeshi protesters in exile published unfounded names of politicians allegedly targeted in untrue lists.
People are ruminating about potential US intervention in the long-running Awami League government in daily conversations and online.
With the new visa regulations, US Ambassador Haas has become a key figure in discussions about what the opposition parties have called “restoring democracy” in Bangladesh.
Seen as an embodiment of a potential US intervention, his popularity skyrocketed. Golam Maola Rony, the leader of the BNP, humorously described this situation as “god in the sky and Haas on earth” to protect them from oppression on a TV talk show.
The general public opinion of the US and Haas had grown to such a high level that when Israel began launching a disproportionate offensive against Palestinians in retaliation for Hamas ‘ attack, criticism of the US remained almost nonexistent, even among Islamic political parties.
This was unprecedented, as Bangladeshis were seen demonstrating against the US government in previous instances where anything happened in Palestine, knowing that Israel would be left in the middle of the Middle East without the US’s support.
Reality bites back
In mid- November, Bangladesh’s Election Commission declared the January 7 poll schedule. The BNP’s request that the election be held under a neutral caretaker government, a system that the country’s High Court had abolished, was not received.
In response, the party was adamant about avoiding the election based on its previous polls, where it won only seven out of 300 seats in a contest that was widely regarded as highly rigged. No free and fair poll could be conducted under a partisan government, it was certain.
As the BNP and its allies ‘ street protests grew more frequent throughout the nation, there was a period of unrest. Increased police response and legal proceedings followed these protests.
Coinciding with this political tension, the vital readymade garment ( RMG) sector, responsible for over 80 % of the country’s export earnings, was shaken by demonstrations demanding a minimum wage increase. Tragically, some workers lost their lives during these protests.
Adding to the anxieties, the US announced a new policy, the” Memorandum on Advancing Worker Empowerment, Rights, and High Labour Standards Globally”. With this directive, the US was able to impose sanctions, trade restrictions, and visa restrictions on nations that violate labor rights. Many Bangladeshis saw this as a potential threat of broad economic sanctions aimed at the RMG sector.
During that tense period, US Ambassador Haas’s actions became a constant source of national attention. Every action taken by the US ambassador and embassy was subject to thorough analysis, which led to speculation and conflict of interest.
By spreading false information, social media and even major news outlets exacerbated the situation. The investigation soared to the point where some national newspapers turned the story into a speculative one about Ambassador Haas’s family’s trip to India before Christmas.
The outcome of the January 7 election was a foregone conclusion right away because the main opposition party had boycotted, but all political parties and regular people had high expectations for the US’s reactions.
Within a day of the results, the US publicly criticized the fairness of the election while being concerned about opposition members ‘ arrests. It also emphasized the US’s” commitment to continued partnership with Bangladesh.”
According to the US, this partnership aims to “promote a free and open Indo-Pacific region, support human rights and civil society in Bangladesh, and strengthen people-to-people and economic ties.”
Begrudging acceptance
The absence of a US or other international intervention was seen by Awami League politicians as a disapproving of the results of the election by the West. The opposition eventually grasped the same reality: there would n’t be a US- led push to remove the Awami League government.
Finally, most analysts and activists were forced to accept the new political environment in the old setting after months of online activism and commentary. Some political pundits and analysts, however, are still dissecting the US’s moves and trying to make a sense out of its Bangladesh policy.
Should it adopt a more lenient stance or adopt a tougher strategy to encourage democratic reforms? Will it completely abandon its values-based approach in favor of a purely interest-driven strategy, or will it make an effort to strike a balance between the two principles?
The common people’s intense interest in the US, its foreign policy toward Bangladesh, and more recently, the American ambassador have all waned. Ambassador Haas quickly became a focal point for hundreds of millions of Bangladeshis for a while, likely without realizing it.
Many people thought of him as the embodiment of the supposed values-based relationship between the US and Bangladesh. That will most likely have ended with his coming departure and the lack of US-motivated change.
Faisal Mahmud is a Dhaka- based journalist.