An Indian journalist raised various internal issues in Bangladesh, including the Awami League, at a briefing at the US State Department. These included the announcement of the Awami League to hold a rally on 'Noor Hossain Day' and the obstruction of it, the alleged torture of minorities in Bangladesh, the detention of controversial journalists and the cancellation of press accreditation cards.
On Monday (November 18) local time, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller came to speak at the press briefing. At that time, the senior journalist asked, "There are alarming reports of organized attacks on peaceful Awami League rallies. Attacks on women, attacks on minorities, jailing of journalists and the cancellation of press accreditation cards. Critics of the interim government in Bangladesh say that the students' August 5 revolution is taking the country back to where it started. We have seen Vedant Patel condemn all of this.
The journalist wanted to know whether there has been any discussion with the interim government in Bangladesh in this regard.
In response, spokesman Matthew Miller said, "I will not discuss the specific discussions with Bangladesh here. However, we have made it clear to the Bangladesh government, as we do to all countries in the world, that we support peaceful protests and do not want the government to resort to violent repression of peaceful protests in any way." The Indian journalist then asked about the initiative to remove 'secularism' from the Bangladesh constitution and asked if he had anything to say on the matter. In response, Miller said he would keep the matter on record and see if they had anything to say.