US ambassador didn't go to the memorial on Martyred Intellectuals' Day, he went somewhere else: Quader

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader has said the BNP's "plan to persuade the United States and the United Kingdom governments" to put sanctions on the Bangladesh government and its institutions has failed.

"The Washington mission of BNP leader Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury has failed. After trying their best, no one from Bangladesh was on the list of individuals and entities sanctioned by the US," Quader said at a discussion arranged by the Awami League at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre, marking Martyred Intellectuals' Day on Wednesday.

"Still, BNP appointed lobbyists thinking that we don't know where the money comes from. Sacks full of money coming from Dubai…we know the story," Quader said.

Quader, also general secretary of the ruling Awami League, came down heavily on Toby Cadman, a British lawyer who was appointed by Jamaat as a legal adviser.

"Toby Cadman told Al Jazeera that he was part of the team that asked the US and UK governments for sanctions against Bangladesh's Rapid Action Battalion (RAB). The US sanction on RAB was a result of this lobbying," Quader said.

Speaking on enforced disappearances, Quader referred to US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas, asking him about the human rights situation in his own country.

"Instead of going to the Martyred Intellectuals' Memorial, Haas went to meet Mayer Daak founders on Martyred Intellectuals' Day. I want to ask him: How many people disappear in your country every month? Don't bother, we already have the stats from CNN," said Quader.

Quader further said before commenting on the human rights situation in Bangladesh, Peter Haas must know the actual history of disappearances and killings.

"In the past, BNP leaders had said that intellectual Farhad Mazhar had disappeared. Later we found him on a Khulna-bound bus. I also want to mention Salahuddin. At first, everyone was saying that he had disappeared. But later we learned that he went to India willingly to evade the cases pending against him. Peter Haas must know of these instances, along with the killings and enforced disappearances that happened during the regime of Ziaur Rahman," said Quader.