Thursday 30 / January / 2025
Dhaka: Shama Obaed, Organising Secretary of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), acknowledged the importance of energy investments, such as those by the Adani Group, to meet Bangladesh's growing power demands, particularly for industrial development.
While viewing Adani's interest in energy projects as a positive step, she stressed the need for transparency and accountability in such agreements.
On being asked about Adani Group's energy sector investments, Obaed told ANI, "Bangladesh, as a growing country, needs clean energy for industrialisation for various purposes, and Adani Group coming ahead and showing interest to invest in energy projects is a positive thing. But at the same time, we have to make sure that any kind of deal that has been done by Adani Group or any other private sector is transparent and all the agreements have to be looked at closely."
Obaed also highlighted concerns about past instances of corruption under the Sheikh Hasina regime and emphasised that future deals must prioritise the interests of the Bangladeshi people.
"Bangladeshi people have to know what's in the agreement, it is very important because we have seen in the past when any kind of agreement has happened in Sheikh Hasina regime, a huge amount of corruption was involved. We do not want to see that in Bangladesh now and when we talk about new Bangladesh, we talk about transparency, we talk about legitimacy, we talk about accountability. So, we want to have agreements with Adani group or any other group which are transparent, accountable, and are actually helping Bangladesh rather than helping two or three people who will make money out of it."
Notably, Sheikh Hasina, who fled Bangladesh last year, has been living in India since August 5. The fallout from these events has significantly affected the political landscape in Bangladesh and has drawn international attention.
Meanwhile, a reports by Human Rights Watch underscored the urgent need for systemic reforms. A 50-page report by Human Rights Watch titled "After the Monsoon Revolution: A Roadmap to Lasting Security Sector Reform in Bangladesh" outlines recommendations to address the country's longstanding issues of political repression. The report highlights the need for reforms centered on the separation of powers and political neutrality across critical institutions such as the judiciary, civil service, police, and military.
