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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DHAKA 000099 
 
SIPDIS 
 
IO/HR FOR AMY OSTERMEIER, DRL/IRF FOR JOANNELLA MORALES 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/01/2020 
TAGS: PHUM PREL UN KVIR PINR BG
SUBJECT: BANGLADESH: OPEN TO DIALOGUE BUT NON-COMMITTAL, ON 
DEFAMATION OF RELIGIONS 
 
Classified By: Ambassador James F. Moriarty.  Reasons 1.4(b) and (d). 
 
Summary 
-------- 
¶1.    (C) During a visit by DRL Senior Advisor Ambassador 
Michael Kozak, the Government of Bangladesh (GOB) expressed 
its openness to alternatives to a United Nations resolution 
banning defamation of religions.  Interlocutors stressed 
Bangladesh,s commitment to religious tolerance and 
fundamental human rights.  The Foreign Secretary, Secretary 
for the Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Law Minister 
welcomed the USG,s initiative on this issue but remained 
non-committal about their government,s participation. 
Members of civil society spoke of the need for communal 
harmony and of their desire for separation of church and 
state. 
 
Values-based Bangladesh Foreign Policy? 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.    (C) Foreign Secretary Mohamed Mijarul Quayes, welcomed 
Ambassador Kozak,s visit and explained that Bangladesh had 
been born out of a commitment to democracy, electoral rights 
and cultural identity.  Quayes said Bangladesh would pursue a 
foreign policy based upon values.  Quayes added that during 
the Cold War, the international community witnessed the 
emergence of "global ghettoes" and said that with today,s 
challenges there was a pressing need to build bridges between 
countries.  Ambassador Kozak acknowledged that UN resolutions 
on defamation of religions were the result of a real problem 
of discrimination against Muslims in Europe.  He expressed 
the United States, desire, however, to move the issue away 
from endless debates on UN resolutions and towards concrete 
action at the domestic level, namely strengthening laws to 
prevent hate crimes while building in greater protections for 
free speech.  Ambassador Kozak emphasized that more free 
speech and tolerance were the best antidotes to hate speech. 
He presented a copy of the U.S. Action Plan to the Foreign 
Secretary. 
 
Bangladesh to Facilitate Broader Discussion 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.    (C) The Foreign Secretary agreed on the need for 
dialogue and said that Bangladesh would be happy to engage in 
a broader discussion about the issue.  He emphasized that 
Bangladesh was a land of multiple faiths with protections 
against religious discrimination.  He encouraged the USG to 
take a middle ground between the Organization for Islamic 
Conference (OIC) countries and the European Union and to 
facilitate such a dialogue.  Quayes also stated that there 
needed to be fewer resolutions in the UN Human Rights 
Council.  Ambassador Kozak suggested that Bangladesh could 
perform a bridging role within the OIC in this regard and 
pointed out that we wanted to offer a concrete alternative to 
the current OIC resolution. 
 
Bangladesh as a Model for Religious Tolerance? 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶4.    (C) The Secretary of the Ministry for Religious 
Affairs, Abdur Rauf Howlader, welcomed the U.S. position and 
stated that the GOB was very pleased to hear of our 
"constructive approach" to the problem of religious 
intolerance.  Howlader reiterated the country,s commitment 
to communal harmony and the constitution,s guarantee for 
freedom from discrimination based upon religion and sex.  The 
Secretary also pointed out that the GOB had partnered with 
the USG on initiatives to promote tolerance, like the Leaders 
of Influence Program, and said that we could be assured of 
further collaboration.  He promised that the  Ministry would 
carefully review the U.S. Action Plan and provide comments. 
 
Democracy as a Bulwark of Secularism 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶5.    (C) Law Minister, Barrister Shafique Ahmed, welcomed 
our points and stated that religious freedom was one of the 
fundamental principles of state policy enshrined in the 
constitution.  He remarked that the GOB is "fully with you." 
The Law Minister emphasized that democracy could not flourish 
if religion entered politics, citing the examples of 
 
DHAKA 00000099  002 OF 002 
 
 
Afghanistan and Pakistan.  Ambassador 
Kozak agreed that government,s role was not to promote 
religion.  Ahmed also added that the voters of Bangladesh had 
given the Awami League government a mandate based upon 
secularism.  The Minister said his government did not want to 
ban expressions of religion but rather to crush violent 
extremism. 
 
Civil Society on the Cutting Edge? 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶6.    (C) During a roundtable discussion with the Ambassador, 
scholars from all the major religions and members of 
faith-based organizations categorically stated that communal 
harmony should be the ultimate goal of any "good" society. 
They agreed that the government should not discriminate based 
upon religion and noted that Bangladesh was already putting 
into practice many of the ideas the U.S. was advocating.  The 
leader of the Ahmadiya (minority Muslim sect) community in 
Bangladesh opined that religion and politics should exist as 
separate entities, pointing out that Islam had survived 1400 
years without litigation.  A Professor of Religion from Dhaka 
University stated that politicians in the country had abused 
religion for political purposes, for example when Islam was 
made a state religion.  Agreeing with the principles 
enshrined in the U.S. initiative, roundtable participants 
concurred that the best antidotes to communal problems were 
education and interfaith dialogue at the local level. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶7.    (C) The GOB is open to the U.S. position on the 
defamation issue but remains non-committal.  Particularly at 
the higher political levels, this issue plays well to a 
government which is trying to emphasize Bangladesh,s secular 
identity.  The stumbling block may well be at the 
bureaucratic level in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which 
is wedded to traditional voting patterns and to a desire not 
to push controversial positions within the OIC or G-77.  In 
many respects, civil society is far ahead of the GOB on this 
issue and can serve as another pressure point with the 
government.  Post will continue to engage with the GOB on 
this subject at all levels. 
MORIARTY