UK parliamentary group withdraws report criticising interim govt
A group of UK MPs has withdrawn a controversial report on Bangladesh following allegations of bias in favour of the ousted government led by Sheikh Hasina.
The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on the Commonwealth issued the report last November, criticising the current regime in Dhaka. However, the report faced backlash for alleged inaccuracies and has since been removed from distribution.
Officials clarified that the document is “under review” after a Labour MP raised concerns in the House of Commons. “The report in question remains an internal document under review and has been shared with the [Foreign Office] as part of the group’s broader deliberative process,” a spokesperson stated. “It is not intended for wider dissemination, and the APPG will not be taking the matter further or making any follow-ups.”
The controversy coincided with the resignation of Tulip Siddiq, a former City minister and niece of Sheikh Hasina, over undisclosed links to her aunt’s party. Her resignation triggered accusations of interference by the Awami League in British politics.
The report, titled The Ongoing Situation in Bangladesh, was released three months after Sheikh Hasina’s government was ousted in a student-led rebellion against her authoritarian rule. The rebellion, met with a harsh crackdown by security forces, resulted in an estimated 1,000 deaths. However, experts criticised the report for underestimating the death toll and for misrepresenting the timeline of events.
The document contained strong criticisms of Hasina’s successor, Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus. APPG chair Andrew Rosindell wrote in an accompanying press release: “Bangladesh should have a great future where opportunities are open and available to everyone rather than just supporters of whatever regime is in power … Without an immediate change of tack, the goodwill the new government enjoys internationally will be in danger of evaporating.”
The report accused Yunus’s administration of “using the law as a political weapon” and enabling “hardline Islamists.” It alleged that murder charges were being “slapped on former ministers, Awami League leaders, MPs, former judges, scholars, lawyers, and journalists” based on evidence from the Rights & Risk Analysis Group, a New Delhi-based think tank.
The APPG report suggested that most deaths occurred after Sheikh Hasina fled the country, claiming, “The majority of these [deaths occurred] after 5 August when millions came into the streets protesting against police tactics and seeking reprisals against supporters of the last government.”
This finding contradicted an earlier report by the UN Human Rights Commissioner, which stated: “The majority of deaths and injuries have been attributed to the security forces and the student wing affiliated with the Awami League.”