Desk Report,
Allegations of US involvement in July coup are a myth, says former US diplomat
Former US diplomat John Danilewitz has said that the previous government and its supporters have been spreading the idea that the US was involved in the political change in Bangladesh in the July uprising. Their propaganda is a myth. Because they have not been able to provide any evidence for the allegations made against the US.
Allegations of US involvement in July coup are a myth, says former US diplomat
Danilewitz made these comments as a special guest at a seminar held at the North South University (NSU) in the capital on Monday morning. The seminar titled ‘The Significance of the July Revolution in the Context of US-Bangladesh Relations: Looking Back, Moving Forward’ was organized by the South Asian Institute of Policy and Governance (SIPG) of NSU. The seminar, chaired by North South University Vice Chancellor Abdul Hannan Chowdhury, featured the keynote address by Muhammad Sufiur Rahman, former Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to Geneva and Senior Research Fellow at SIPG. Talking about how the July-August student uprising will affect the future relationship between the two countries, he referred to the 2007-08 military-backed caretaker government.
John Danilewitz, former chief of the political department at the US embassy in Dhaka, said that the previous government and its supporters have been spreading the idea that the US was somehow involved in the political changes that took place here in July-August. This propaganda is a myth. He said, “I have not found any evidence of the allegations made against the US in my talks with US officials. I have asked them (the previous government and their supporters) to provide evidence of the allegations made against the US. But they have not been able to provide any evidence. On the contrary, we have found evidence that the US was not involved in the recent changes in Bangladesh.”
John Danilewitz also mentioned the 1-11 incident while talking about last August. He said, “Many believe that the US was directly involved in the events that led to the political change on January 11, 2007. You may not believe me. The US had no role in this. The then military leadership decided how Bangladesh would work in the next two years.’ He said, but this does not mean that the US had no concerns about the events before January 11, 2007. It also does not mean that the US did not work to advance relations with Bangladesh in 2007-08.
Danilewitz said that the context of that period (1-11) is being mentioned for this reason, because the US involvement is also being talked about for the current (last July-August) changes.
SIPG Director Sheikh Toufiq M Haque moderated the discussion. Former professor of the Department of International Relations of Dhaka University M Shahiduzzaman, Dean of NSU Business School AKM Waresul Islam and BGMOA President Faisal Samad also participated in the discussion.
