call me in any way shape or form a closer to back down the investigation into michael flynn and also as you will know. next question bottle field washington on al-jazeera. hello i'm maryam namazie in london just a quick look at the top stories for you now pakistan returned a captured pilot to india on friday in a move many people hope will deescalate tensions between the two countries but shelling does continue between the two sides and those living in the disputed region of kashmir say they are the one's course in the crossfire as jamil reports from new delhi. at the walk a border crossing in punjab wing commander of the london birth moniz released from pakistani custody back to india two days after his aircraft was shot down.

as if it might have to do it was. the president of the i want you know. this pick up isn't it good particularly because the officer of the packet from an airplane bridge would have. to have gotten back a former colonel in the indian army says at best the decision to hand him over so quickly has been begrudgingly welcomed by india but that doesn't do enough to overcome the lingering mistrust of mistrust that have been generated by this pakistan for men to terrorism and support to the insurgency in kashmir these are the real key issues kashmir terrorism. the celebrations at the border are unlikely to last long as the roots of the kashmir dispute remain deep seated as attempts are made to deescalate tensions between india and pakistan continue to complain they're

the ones caught in the middle and those from indeed in mr kashmir accuse the indian government of not doing enough for them not just now but over many years just before the pilots release there was a funeral in india administered kashmir it was for woman killed by shelling between india and pakistan that began on wednesday across the line of control. divides mir people here complain they always suffer when pakistan and india fight and there's renewed concerns about the indian government's policies in the administered kashmir a new crop of young educated people have taken to resistance but this is something which is unprecedented this former kashmiri civil servant made news for resigning from his post to protest against the government policies policies he says are far more militaristic leaving no room for peaceful negotiation. the old institutions of dialogue and. those being kind of becoming irrelevant and nor important but no

significant political initiative from delhi has been there for last few years the indian government has long complained that pakistan supports groups who promote violence in kashmir whoever is to blame for the under arrest in the disputed region all these indians want to do for now celebrate the release of their pilot jamil al jazeera you delhi. large demonstrations are underway in algeria against president. plans to run for a fifth time protests have been held in several cities across the country demonstrators are demanding the eighty one year old leader who has been in power for twenty years withdrawal from elections scheduled for later this month security forces in somalia have shot dead three fighters in the capital ending in overnight standoff following a suicide bomb attack on a city center hotel at least twenty five people were killed in suicide attack on.

the new york times is reporting u.s. president donald trump ordered his former chief of soft john kelly to grant his son in law cushion a top security clearance back in may when he wrote an internal memo confirming the fact off to senior officials in the white house were troubled by the decision bush's clearance was later suspended in two thousand and eighteen. venezuelan opposition leader and self-proclaimed interim president is traveling to argentina for a meeting with president larry craig has been travelling across south america to gain support for a change of government in venezuela meanwhile the united states says it will continue to take appropriate action against the venezuelan president nicolas maduro . and you're up to date with i had lines head to head is coming up next more news after that in twenty five minutes time stay with us.

in december bangladesh went to the polls with prime minister sheikh hasina securing a landslide victory. she said she won on the back of bangladesh's impressive economic record and a decade of growth. her opponent say she stole the election. while international monitors accuse her of silencing her critics and muzzling the press. the media edition that is that period. so is bangladesh becoming a one party state. and was hosting over one million rohingya refugees fleeing myanmar how long can and will bangladesh protect them. and may the house and i've come here to the oxford union to go head to head with

gallagher rizvi the international affairs advisor to bangladeshi prime minister. and the historian and former academic i'll challenge him on whether democracy is dying in bangladesh and whether his country should be doing more to help the refugees. tonight i'll also be joined by. a swedish bangladeshi journalist and author of death squads and state terror in south asia saeed a team bangladesh's high commissioner to the u.k. and ireland and abbas faiz a south asia i am a list of you case essex university who previously worked for amnesty international for more than thirty years. maybe the gentleman please why. gallaher is very tightly held senior positions in universities around the world including oxford harvard and the

university of virginia he's worked for the prime minister for a decade and his role is the equivalent to that of a cabinet minister. following your party the war me leagues recent landslide election victory in december it does look more and more like bangladesh is becoming a one party state does it not i'm surprised that you would say that this has been said earlier by a number of people so it's not that surprising part and surprised that you said ok because as one who has studied politics you would understand that just because the party has been elected three times it is not over one party state the reason that you're being called a one party state is not just because you win lots of elections and so many parties do that it's still knowledge and by which you win just to be clear of the three hundred seats contested in the december election how many seats did your ruling coalition win in parliament to eighty eight to eighty eight out of three hundred years i wanted to the opposition when well let's seven let me put this question two

hundred eighty eight letters in seven go let me put this question do differently give me one good reason why the opposition should have been voted into power they did not have a manifesto they were ambivalent whether they were going to win the election or not so you're comfortable with a ninety six percent of the seat stuff so you are seen as now winning the kind of percentage of victories that bashar al assad and kim jong un when ninety six re said that now that you're comfortable with the knockers know it this will be fine with no i think the comparison is totally irrelevant here there were the thirty nine political parties contested in the election. free and fair elections to play a large number of international observers were there who saw it for themselves who would not vote for a government which has performed brilliantly by any count and if you want me to there are many brilliant governments and they win fifty sixty seventy percent ok you say it's a free and fair election last year without point as you know the european union has

said there were quote significant obstacles which have tainted the electoral campaign and the vote transparency international studied fifty constituencies in bangladesh and found serious irregularities in forty seven of them and what for including fake votes ballot stuffing voters barred from entering polling stations the b.b.c. how footage of a stuffed ballot box in the port city of chittagong the other b.b.c. in transparency international just making this follow one of my closes frame is the head of bangladesh transparency international so i'm not going to compute any other than deal with the report for seven out of the i would like the election commission found irregularities in fifteen or nineteen i forget the exact number of polling stations and run there when you remember there were forty thousand plus polling stations so for healing and being fifteen or nineteen that's all there is if you go your friends organization looked at fifty seats and forty seven of them i don't don't have

a regular i am not in there i can't get out of the top ninety five percent it's like your margin of victory isn't the problem the human rights watch describes how opposition members have been arrested killed and even disappeared in the months running up to the election there was a quote atmosphere of fear one hundred fifty opposition members were arrested just two weeks before the election surely that crippled your election campaign if the government keeps arresting your members these were people who committed arson and killing. in in the months of again really to mark two thousand and fifteen after that they went underground they did at that time of the election. there were allegations criminal charges against them and so when they resurface they were arrested by the sort of deal with some of the people you put criminal charges against in the opposition you said that a man called min to come on a dark a dark or b.n.p. leader was charged with blocking a road in september twenty eighth seen the problem is he died in two thousand and seven. isn't this embarrassing how goes it is embarrassing you're throwing criminal

charges off of the members who are dead on such charges that it is. embarrassing but one knows that in police investigation in many societies in developing countries often have these short sharp coming it's not just the opposition that have been on the brunt of your government the media have had some issues i think it's fair to say you let me quote you you said civilization cannot flourish without freedom of expression intensity ship never works which is a good line but in practice there have been numerous examples of media crackdowns perhaps the most famous case is out of the photo journalist. who was dragged from his house by police after documenting a student protest in august and then criticizing your government on this channel actually on al-jazeera english should have seen your prime minister described him as quote mentally sick do you think he's mentally sick or is he just a journalist trying to do his job. those who are familiar with the media in

bangladesh will know one thing it is free it is vigorous. was not arrested for appearing on. and making comments he was arrested for spreading misinformation which was inciting violence shahid is my very close friend and a lot of them told reporters outside court in august that he was beaten so badly by police that his tunic needed washing because of all the blood he was jailed for one hundred seven days and said he was tortured is that how you treat your friends i. have not said a word about his treatment all i have stated he is a close friend of mine and when he was arrested i took it on myself to make sure that he was given proper medical treatment his family was able to carry food for him ok and while he will need medical treatment well not because of the beating that you said you are denying that he was beaten by the police i did not deny that

but i cannot deny it because i do not know what happened to your friend mentally sick no one of the prime minister say he's mentally sick i have no idea about that . i don't know what she was at in our mind but if somebody. spreads distant from the should we endangers life with inside wireless information just before we move on because there were several people killed and a dead body is very hidden and i one we leave office in in the on monday remain where raped i don't know that's where got don't don't don't say no hold on even if it was false you think it's worth looking at i stand by my court and i will go to my death saying the same thing that without freedom of expression our civilization will collapse on the other hand the government has responsibility to protect citigroup let's bring in our panel who are waiting patiently to come in here i'm joined by swedish bangladeshi journalist author of july death squads and state

terror in south asia do you think it's fair to say that you know is turning bangladesh into a one party state into an authoritarian state as many journalists are claim especially in the west yes many because c.n.n. has not only turned the country into a one party state and she has very successfully done that she has very key people in phases like to to risk be who would come on international television and very low currently you know try to defend her but the truth remains that bangladesh is a country where people are picked up from their homes their ducted they're kept in secret detention there is a program of enforced disappearances people are. cute people are imprisoned in thousands i mean we saw during the recent elections and even the anyone who the regime things that is

a problem the guru after him or har with absolute viciousness and just on his point about free and fair media everyone in this hall would agree it's a free for vigorous media you're a journalist you no longer live in bangladesh what's your view well bangladesh is a. tree where journalists are beaten marsalis lead by the goons of the shah to lead the student wing of bangladesh army need we have video footage of cause you would see a well one or two journalists getting beaten up that's nothing to care about maybe but it's a very very dark situation before i bring back in going to go to saeed a monitor bangladesh's high commissioner to the u.k. and ireland when you hear him speaking there it's a litany. thousands behind bars extra judicial killings enforced disappearances must make your job quite hard defending the bangladeshi government here in the west it doesn't even live in bangladesh so you know he's. just like you do why doesn't

he live in i've no idea. what i'm saying is that. but there's definitely you know in the history of bangladesh in press freedom if you look at the seventy's eighty's ninety's in two thousand even until two thousand there was just one private t.v. channel like now she can see between two thousand and nine and two thousand and eighteen has opened up the media and thirty two private t.v. channels every day ninety political talk shows she has seen has been criticized left and right there are newspapers criticizing she has in the parliament she's been criticized why wouldn't they have press freedom she doesn't need to put any just waste out in droves they were being arrested for criticizing her to was just there only for a little bit let's hope there's a restaurant that's a fraction this is small fraction that doesn't mean that one doesn't have press freedom before i bring in a bar space why don't you live in bangladesh as a journalist i can operate independently in the country i would be abducted be tortured like michael egan when i was that which period did you leave the country

before she has and i came into office but he's given many examples where let me bring in. south asia analyst at the u.k.'s essex university previously worked for amnesty international for more than thirty years i must be mentioned in forced disappearances or something i'm going to bring you back on it so can you shed some light on what is going on about english with these claims being made about people disappear what is happening in bangor on the government's watch is really very unacceptable in terms of democracy all the independent institutions of the parliament have become an extension of the growing of them all of these things have happened by the support of people intellectuals like mr grover the b. who are actively. the nation the nature of the issues now to just go back. force disappearance of the way top of the group plain clothes officers go to the house of the people that collect them they take them away and then the

police the security agencies all of those people they just say that they don't have any knowledge of them to a result i think if you are saying above us that this is the government policy i fear you are mistaken government does not need to disappear people government have authority to arrest people if this field somebody has done thing but they are out of this anger to anger thank you remind them are you denying that people like me are mad because someone. who would in front of their families in many cases were taken by plainclothes police of on c.c.t.v. with in one case i am with they not taken i am going to say again denying that you said last me for years and was deplorable if this is drew this were to happen what are their names that are also given the things that of people have resurfaced and are openly moving around in this is how but not all of them have reduced government and the us government and amnesty international and human rights watch and

bangladesh human rights groups are all saying you people are being disappeared how do you invest this is of course we will investigate and the ok i want to ask about the war crimes tribunal set up in two thousand and ten by the bangladeshi government to bring justice for the atrocities that were committed during the war of independence in one hundred seventy one first these tribunals were welcomed by the international community however in recent years the un the international human rights watch the international center for transitional justice they all raise serious concerns about the fairness of these trials in particular the use of the death penalty you claim to be part of a progressive party but you're overseeing tribunals that the international commission of jurists says do not add here to international standards of a fair trial and due process let me first ask you is why every time i ask you a question you want to ask i want to ask you because this was because you. you have raised the question of international practice international standards you know like international no no no i'm going to ask you is there is international gold standard

no there is it what exists in every country that countries have set up their own schools and where do you compare the code is with the law court and the appellate division was the process followed in the tribunals in any way inferior to our high court and our supreme court no but this was the only country which tried war criminals and gave them full right of representation full evidence was placed into the hands of their defense lawyers they were allowed to bring in as many defense lawyers as were necessary as witnesses what about witnesses who were abducted from outside the court protest over there i don't know about that particular thing you and i in the international commission of jurists as defense witnesses have been abducted and intimidated and there are credible allegations of collusion between the government prosecutors and judges isn't it the

case the ship has seen or just wants to get guilty and therefore cut corners first you first you tell me it is not of international standards when i tell you that the standards followed in bangladesh were higher than what that happened in nuremberg trial is as good as i don't remember anyone accusing the nuremberg trials of abducting witnesses outside the court of law at the international tribunal gave an opportunity for appeal not only appeal it also be a battle of the rules give an opportunity for do be sure to review if after all these things you say i'm not saying that these are international tourists are saying it who know their stuff ok let's move on there's a lot of opposition to quote unquote secularism islamists in bangladesh in just three years between twenty thirty and twenty sixteen as you know there were ten brutal murders of atheist bloggers. as well as other activists this is zero tolerance for extremists who kill bloggers from your government indeed yes then why did the after the death of one blogger roy in february twenty fifteen why does she

has seen a son an advisor to the government he said your government quote can't come out strongly for him as they don't want to be seen as atheists another minister sharia said that while these attacks are not acceptable at the same time we expect people to stop criticizing the prophet from a supposedly secular government that's a pretty intolerant some would say cowardly approach to the murder of your own citizens i'm not going to defend the statements made by those you can as them but they your colleagues are what i am going to hear what al gore is here are going to tell him what i am going to say to you is government does take very strong action against all crimes including crimes against a blogger's what what is often not recognised is that there is also another law in that country with sais that you can be punished for insulting religious beliefs or religious sentiment is that your version of a blasphemy law that is where a blasphemy law is how can you say you're

a secular government secular country of course you are thank you look at your blog as for offending religious sentiments i was a secular i don't know as yet of which blogger has been arrested for russell purvis the blogger who fled to japan after being arrested was he arrested for blood. religious sentiments. if you are if you are going to if you are going to incite violence by ins no no no no come on there's no reason that i ask you is are you a secular country if you look at bloggers for offending islam yes or no i do have to as a member of the government ok that if. public safety is endangered governments have a response to the excuse that many governments use you say that you're a secular party and secular government you say your opponents the b.n.p. the bangladesh national party are theocratic you say they're in bed with jamaat e islami quote unquote islamists but some would say that you've gotten into bed with some pretty extreme groups to the head of the islam movement you've given into

some of their pretty extreme demands you even refused your party to condemn them when they recently attacked the education of teenage girls and one that is why now of maybe compare like with like. jamaat is a political party the father this is not a political irrelevant to my question no it is relevant i was asking a sailor it is. a family holiday i mean that i'm into that because it is. movement so i was a part of our students movement there are one point four million students studying in in madras has controlled by the half hour the group the government is trying to bring them out to modernize their curriculum to make them employable ok to train their enough modern science has an education so that they become employable and keep away from radical and no one saying you should talk to them and that is what america is giving into their demands you say that your modernizing their

curriculum they seem to be having more impact on your curriculum they are for seventeen stories and poems to be removed from school textbooks you agreed they asked to move a female statue representing justice from the supreme court you agreed they condemn the education of teenage girls your minister said that's fine it's free speech you are just appeasing the more telling the world you're secular does it not. there to reflect on the fact that there are more women today in secondary a primary schools than there are men is that a restoration so do you condemn a small group after they knew you condemn them are saying that college girls should our policy is condemning them know that i'll never really get into education refused to he said who has made the comments i am going to bring you here and i am saying that it is exactly against the government policy ok let's go back to our panel. do you accept that this is about bringing the mother and bringing these groups forward modernizing getting jobs. what's your position on the relationship

between the two slum came to prominence back in two thousand and thirteen after the marder of a blogger and their demand was capital punishment for anyone who would criticize islam and this they would carry placards seeing that you know he is like you would kill dogs and cats that is have that the islam and now because he has been declared as the mother of call me students in bangladesh who have very questionable ideas i'm not sure how islamic they are even so you don't monitor slimmers here the high commissioner what's your response when you hear for example it's not just atheist bloggers there are many minorities among others who are upset the secretary of the bangladesh buddhist federation said that when hindus buddhists and christians face abuse in bangladesh there is no one to turn to for justice that's quite damning isn't it for minorities in this i think she is seen as a party has been the most secular party that bangladesh has ever witnessed it's very clear that her policies in her previous government she had five cabinet

ministers who are hindus and christian and buddhist and in this cabinet is at least three cabinet minister put up with mr who are hindus and buddhists after the runway incident if you recall she casino has rebuilt nine thousand with his temples has myanmar built one temple one must remember is if what i say i was. actually very close not really serious trouble but i thought well what is there is buddhist leaders hindu leaders christian leaders they're all saying we feel i want to follow that i would agree with that why does she empower women she empowers women to marginalize extremist forces and that is how bangladesh is doing so well it cannot be equally about. what do you make of the result human but the government has tried its best and high commissions argument it has improved things in terms of protections for minorities protections for atheist bloggers is that fair have there been massive improvements to the recent protection from the mine no it is no person dumb enough to talk with tell me how many people have been. tried and convicted

for setting fire on the homes of the christians for attacking hindu minorities could cross or just none have been brought to justice you have raised a very important these few minorities have often been. victims of persecution but to say that under this government there has been persecution of minorities please i urge you to go back to your sources i urge you to go back to the most of the positive voices on this is. hindu buddhist christian association they are told and i don't know what they have told you they have come to the prime minister and they have thanked her never in the history of bangladesh minorities have enjoyed looking like freedom just because it was the number though it just was the number of convictions that i don't know but i can tell you one thing when the next visiting palca ok we'll be glad. i'm not note we're going to

have to take a break do join us on head to head for part two with doris we were going to be talking about the writing issue and we're also going to hear from a very patient audience here in the oxford union after the break for eighty. minutes to find out whether someone is going for some of these very disparate we think it's how you proceed to tell us it is a certain way of doing. a story in. a nation where corruption is endemic embroiled in a battle to hold the power to account. has this radical transformation. i mean it really did as he was shedding light on the remaining pressing for change and the unconventional methods to eliminate corruption remain

the people on al-jazeera. hello i'm maryam namazie in london just a quick look at the top stories now pakistan has returned a captured pilot to india on friday in a move many people hope will deescalate tensions between the two countries when command and thomas plane was downed on the pakistani health side of kashmir on wednesday. well. you're all going. to learn that. this took up the good work the good me because the officer. did.

good order out orders and. large demonstrations have been held in algeria against president abdelaziz bouteflika has plans to run for a fifth term protests have been held in several cities across the country including the capital algiers demonstrators that demanding the old leader who's been in power for twenty years withdrawal from elections scheduled for later this month. security forces in somalia have shot dead three al shabaab fighters in the capital mogadishu ending in an overnight standoff following a bomb attack on a city center hotel at least twenty five people were killed in a suicide attack on the hotel on thursday evening. the government has failed to the security of the city as they did not stop this attack they should not be happy to see people dying especially have to be fired

security experts and be clue to your new experience replacements the new york times is reporting that u.s. president donald trump ordered his former chief of staff john kelly to grant his son in law jerry cushion a top security clearance back in may the newspaper says kelley wrote an internal memo confirming the fact of the senior officials in the white house were troubled by the decision question as clearance was later suspended in two thousand and eighteen. and the venezuelan opposition leader who was traveling to argentina for a meeting with president married. has been travelling across south america to gain support for a change of government in venezuela the united states says it will continue to take appropriate action against the venezuelan president nicolas maduro will bring you more on that story and everything else we're covering in the news hour in twenty five minutes time i'll see you then head to head now continues.

what about to head to head on al-jazeera english my guest tonight is going to reveal international affairs adviser to the bangladeshi prime ministership hasina in recent years garvey one of the biggest challenges bangladesh has had to face has not come from the inside of the outside from neighboring myanmar more than a million muslim rohingya refugees have fled into bangladesh it's very admirable that your country has taken in so many refugees but here's what i don't get you've called what's happening in myanmar ethnic cleansing your boss the prime ministership are seen as called it quote tantamount to genocide and crimes against humanity and yet your solution to the crisis seems to be to try and send the refugees back to me makes no sense really that is the eggs solution that these people belong to be had by they want to go back home and their bus go home however what we have also see is we will only send them when they when the conditions are safe and people will go back voluntarily very few

governments in the world let alone a developing society horsed a million refugees and then see we we would like you to go back only when the situation is there now of course the problem doesn't lie on bangladesh side it lies on myanmar so agree and what else can bangladesh do. the responsibility lies with the international community that they must insist on myanmar save for the return agree of the in the meantime though you say we won't send them back while it's not safe which is good to hear and yet in the very there were reports covered by international media covered by human rights groups that you were trying to send them back against their will security forces were deployed to some of the camps in cox's bazaar refugees were told that if they didn't leave they would stop receiving

russians they would be blocked from working with n.g.o.s the u.n. put out a statement saying do not send them back against their will that's what you are trying to do in november let me clarify what we had said was dawes who want to voluntarily return because myanmar government criticised us saying that bangladesh is preventing the retired forcibly preventing the return of writing those who want to come back so we said if those who would like to leave voluntarily may go people refused to go voluntarily we did not push out we did not force the un referred to terror and panic in cox's bazar the imminent risk of being sent back against their will i don't know from where this statement came but you know you a little you only see our person from bangkok with whom i work very very very closely we work in concert there was never ever a question of any forcible repair to a new start that is the policy of the bank that is

a policy and this is the policy of the prime minister has announced again and again including at the united nations there's also a plan right now a belief in the government to send thousands of these refugees to a place called busson char an island three hours from the mainland which is particularly prone to cyclons and severe flooding human rights groups of one that it could become an island prison ok. the whole of course the region is prone to cyclons strong tidal surges so that island is not anything different from the rest of the coastal belt second thing is on the one hand we are under enormous pressure from humanitarian organisations that there is congestion in these camps these camps have become un save create more space for them so that they can live better we have developed an island put protections against surges we have built a cycle on shelters there but most important before we have say to these international organizations go and see it for yourself and then these people if

they are voluntarily or some of them want to be relocated there they are welcome to be so the guardian footage of the island was being built there in the number twenty eighteen they found that families would be housed in rooms which measured two meters by two and of meters which have small barred windows just kind of sound prisoners. well have you been to the coxes bizarre camp now if you if you had been to that camp i can assure you you wouldn't you wouldn't have. that because that accommodation created in boston to our is far far superior to the current existence of the temporary shelters in which they live living ok you could allow some other countries to take some of these refugees of your home but you don't seem to be letting the bangladeshi government refused exit visas to rohingya refugee women who had been offered asylum in canada under a specific program designed to take care of victims of sexual violence why would

you do that when did this happen in twenty eighteen i don't know why this happened but let me give you a larger explanation the larger explanation is that there is a fear that if third country settlement begins to happen and we don't know how many people are canada was willing to appear there are a million people if you want to take fifty or sixty people all it does is it creates hope those who are left behind in myanmar that if you can reach the camps of bangladesh you may be resettled in the third that is the argument you made about you to start a good argument here is that you say the people in myanmar are facing genocide if you're facing genocide you want to get out doesn't matter where you go to canada are all ok i did not i'm saying as i said this is one another argument that has been and what about the argument you could have let more in earlier it was admirable to let in a million people in the last couple of years but rohingya refugees have been fleeing the violence there for years now as you well know and yet you were turning

them back between twenty twelve and twenty sixteen bangladeshi border guards were turning away refugees and hundreds many of those people who turned away probably died go one step back we already had three quarters of a million running the refugees in bangladesh they have been there since the late one nine hundred ninety s. . so to say that we turn some back which country has allowed so many people into there and i said that's a brutal position what i'm wondering is given you've let these people in given you said the victims of genocide in hindsight at least you look back over has been say you know what i wish we'd let all in earlier we could have saved all lives is this what happens when they came to your border guards they are trained to prevent people from coming in that was their reaction when this came to the high level decision i was present in the meeting that day all the security forces argue that we should hold them back our prime minister said no this is

a humanitarian crisis opened our frontiers let them in and i think this is the only unique example possibly angela merkel was another where a million people legally allowed be ok to the county fair enough let me ask you this last question before we go to our panel and then the audience you said myanmar should be referred to the international criminal court or indeed just stage do you think aung sang suu chihiro you know personally do you think she should face an international tribunal as well for her role in this genocide or at least her role in denying and covering it up who ever is involved should be faced with the international court of justice there is no doubt because this was premeditated genocide so you think there could be a case against aung san suu kyi as well it could it would be against the entire government or any member of government that aided and abetted in this process you like to see her on trial. now you are asking me to comment on a friend. and i. have

a soft spot for friends and i roared back. interesting choice of friends tonight. let's go to our panel of experts who are waiting on the oxford union i'm joined by our boss phasers of south asia analyst at u.k.'s six university previously worked for amnesty international for more than thirty years abbas as a human rights activist and specialist how worried are you about the fate of refugees in bangladesh today what's your view and it is commendable but dang that this is the but that is not enough to do so after a very strong movement within the international community to ensure that the pressure that is needed to be placed on the government of myanmar is the government to bring that this is not doing all of that so you don't want to sneeze here bangladesh is high commissioner to the u.k. and ireland you've also served on by the leadership is a national toss force on the repaired tradition of the refugees abbas's you've done well but not enough we have done excellent with the only country in the world who's

giving maximum protection to the. why isn't the one doing enough that should be a question of what bangladesh is doing in a bunker this is a country with bt. these values their values this is a list of other country we are with the most densely populated country in the world we are sharing our food and space and sovereign space with the wind as was given we've given sixty six six thousand acres of land for us we're protecting sixty thousand women who are raped and gave babies seventy thousand babies who are raped babies we're providing support and shelter to those babies we're providing health education you know health care prenatal post near to women who are sexually violated in. states the question is why isn't the one doing enough would they you know existing would they not have kingdom be ready to take one point one million refugees where there was a kind of back to the question would you. let me bring. the swedish

bangladeshi journalist author of death squads and state turned south asia trust if you're a critic of this government is very difficult to disagree with our commission is saying that they've done a lot for the rowing refugees this is sheer cussedness finest hour many genocide is not something we just don't like have a competition of who has done enough and there's not enough and i'd like to ask a direct question to me here i mean you see that you want to see me and mark tried international court of justice for genocide you on record saying it is a genocide. genocide now what is stopping you from referring. to the international court of justice under article nine of the genocide convention i think the answer is obviously you know we haven't done it but you've got a government which has its hands full training feeding providing health care why the government had of course we will do of course we were going

really really like you know we're going to wrap this up and let's go to our audience raise your hands i want to bring you in as as many of you as i can go to judge we're here in the front i represent ahmed bin qassam he was disappeared by the bangladesh special forces wrap in august two thousand and sixty with all the evidence points to this being done on the direct orders of prime minister sheikh hasina he's only one of hundreds have been disappeared these disappearances have been noted by un human rights bodies international human rights organizations the international press and foreign embassies when will the bangladesh government stop pushing the ridiculous line the disappearances are not happening and when will these men be released so they can return to their family. when disappearances happen it is deplorable. and but i have also stated that this is not a government policy of moving people so where is his client i wouldn't know since you are the lawyer you tell us ready is your plan you just want

to respond when and with with proof there is credible evidence he was being held in dhaka can torment a military base in the middle of dhaka and that's credible evidence from foreign addresses and your government knows where he is no one believes that you don't know i don't even go further you're going to let me know what i thank you for the statement but you have said nothing you have just made a statement that he is your question he told you where he thinks he is now is your job to go check it out you are the only thing it is not i am prepared to take it out but you know when you use the word credible well i have to take your word for it i want the cell number as well i was timing for meaning he would give me something for less scrutiny we'll ask about the audience gentlemen here in the front thank you i covered the runaround applause a factory collapse and the aftermath of that twenty thirty twenty thirteen which was convulsive event and which created a lot of promises from the government i'm just curious because it seems that now thousands of workers are demanding fair wages and have not been allowed to be

unionized they're being shot at. and summerize. sacked from their job this is a recent protest of yes and. despite just two days after the election the government gave a seventy five percent tax break to factory owners and in a country which has the highest growth rate of months rich people in the world. i don't know if you have been back since you covered rana plaza and know most indians have taken place to begin with. bangladesh is now fully compliant with its commitment to the. convention bungler this constitution fully allows. unionization there are no restrictions to it working with accord an alliance we have improved and made all the factories

save we are insisting that the owners provide a million mom health care in the in the factories and as far as the government is concerned there is no rest whatsoever on unionization so you rather as happened since you regret the deaths of hundreds of innocent people for these changes to come about on your watch you know tragically often a war a tragedy. forces pushes the momentum when the speed at which changes take place yes in that sense it was it did they did propel us to move faster got lady the second row what are the challenges and vision of present government in bangladesh after this landslide victory. our plans and visions are very very straightforward we have numerous steps by twenty twenty one we want to become a middle income state by twenty thirty we want to complete and fulfill sustainable

development goals to the extent possible by twenty forty two we want to be a developed country ok because a lady here in the front high east spoke about shahid i'm the niece of yes we've sat here and heard you say that there is freedom of expression in bangladesh but you know what happened to my uncle your friend. for scrutinizing the government perhaps not in a dissimilar way from what's happening now as a journalist the way that made these a journalist also scrutinizing your government. we've all listened and laughed and debated about everything that's happening but the reality is that bangladesh is a living nightmare for thousands of people you deny it but there are torture there is torture extrajudicial killings disappearances the ugliest face of the human

condition and if you're saying that everyone is lying then i think you're insulting people i'm asking you as a human being how do you feel about this you comfortable with this i'm not asking as a politician i'm asking you as a human being i would like to give you a direct thank. i. really like to give you a direct answer i understand your pain and i will also say with great respect to my friend. that and to compare him with what this journalist is doing asking question is unfair as i said earlier he was not arrested and i don't think one should be arrested for his journalistic work but for spreading this and for the second thing second thing i want to do just sued that life is

a living hell in bangladesh. do you have any idea how the quality of life for millions of people have improved in the last ten years how millions of people have moved out of extreme poverty and how it. has achieved higher social in this is in all respects compared to all if you go resigned all or not at all if they are is just reading economic news you're on record you are on record saying this is a product development development is not the same as democracy or the same you would want to set up i think these two work hand in hand actually and you cannot exclude so i am coming to that but you said it is living living hell for thousands of people i am telling you their lives have improved that is not to say that if there is a breach of human rights if there is arbitrary arrest of people that we justify and

we approach absolutely not and that is what i say the prime minister's current agenda high emphasis is on the question of governance and when i say governance it is a shorthand for all the thing that we all of us aspire to full liberty freedom of expression . you know. a real qualitative improvement and just on her first particular question to you personally as someone who's not a politician or your whole life the majority of you have to be the politician you are an academic a scholar you are teaching people about the world when you read these reports from academics from scholars from human rights activists all making the same claims about enforced disappearances crackdowns on the press torture it doesn't bother you at all of course it bothers because i think it is deplorable it is that these things are true and i also say to you whenever this information has come to me and i will not cannot at this moment divulge names i have done everything personally humanly possible to make sure including in the case of your uncle which i do not want to say publicly ok let's go back to the audience yesterday when the tires.

just a question to mr levine he is an advisor to the pm and he is a very intellectual man but does he call that when there is a crackdown on opposition and there is a extrajudicial killing and disappearances even the opposition party doesn't have any freedom to gather free assembly or anything that cannot speak is that called democracy in bangladesh what has happened was not a crackdown what happened is again this is the law of the land that if you want to hold a public meeting you need to secure the permission of the police department so that . adequate facilities are provided but where the difficulty arose when two parties decide on the same day to hold their meeting in the same venue not rich police force in the ward. is a very serious event really all the same let's go back to the audience doctor is very you've already answered

a couple of questions on the enforced disappearances and some of the other human rights violations and you've used the term deplorable why have you refused to engage with the un special rapporteur and working groups when they've tried to engage with you on this issue and all you do is flatly deny the existence of these that is true what he said un special all wrong record i can let me ask my colleagues we are working very closely with un special rapporteur us geneva but have you invited him to visit the country they always request us to come the country we always love that and i want to have any record where we didn't you know what you're going to tell you to take them to the going to take them some of the prisons we had mentioned earlier some of these people might be at you know un special rapporteur has visited balad visited by prison once it's not a question of inviting them there have been complaints there have been request made by the special rapporteur that your government has not replied to not engage with in any way ok just before we finish one last couple questions for me very quickly.

you were an advisor to shift you've been for years you represent her here on the international stage you know that she's now widely considered by many people many journalists many governments to be leading bangladesh towards an authoritarian destination you may not agree with that view but you know that is the view of many people do you feel that view back to her does she care because there's a quote from a son where he says that she thinks it's a badge of honor to be called authoritarian well. you know what he was saying is when you have been cornered and authoritarian perth and the prime minister of malaysia. mahathir mohamad has been so he was putting it in that quantity my point is this he has these things have been said we have heard it we have heard it and we hear it again and i think the reality is very different we have had. regular elections not only i didn't know you made this point i'm asking about her what is her attitude when you tell her this is what people say to me you travel

around the world he know the people raise these complaints seriously she reads newspapers he reads. her does it bother her daily briefing and she knows that this is not what she is and does it bother you you're an academic a scholar you people of a lot of times you've told a harvard oxford before you join this government job or think you know all this is hard work going around offending check is it time to head back to academia. i can tell you on t. v i while i would love to do that let me say to you i am truly delighted to be able to stand and speak for a person who has quality to valley seeings the lives of millions of people. that is. and as she has promised herself that he's going to address many of the questions that have been raised so i

think we should applaud her for what he has achieved. we should give her that they did with their credit is due and to start believing that somewhere in the middle there was some people say she is very good somebody will say this is very red and take the middle route no let's be a little bit more and you have no plans to retire anytime soon and seventy. and seventy this year ok thank you and i have a writing aspirations but at the same time and very privileged and honored to subject a senior to resist thank you very much for joining me on head to head that's our show head to head will be back next week thank you. thank you.

hello the record breaking heat from this trail in summer still hasn't gone away and if you look at the movement of the clad you can see look it's coming from north to south that usually means the breezes coming from the hot interior and it'll affect cities temperatures thirty seven is still the case in adelaide on saturdays a little bit cooler him album but still halt same is true for tasmania cooler on the coast you'll notice and this breeze in on shore now that the seas are still big around the gulf coast through queens and as well but they are on shore breeze but also allow a few showers to build the otherwise a pretty dry picture of her standing twenty two you'll notice warming up against

lowly on sunday at the same time as temperatures start to drop in adelaide and melbourne was still talking about above thirty degrees now there wasn't very much action the sky you know straight here just these few showers you can see the same is true launch these throughout new zealand there's a lot of cloud out in the southern ocean and you'll see that but overland enjoy the relatively warm weather and the almost unbroken sunshine from door into the us it's not sure in the southwest pacific where it is quite stormy no is it true in japan where incoming cloud not switching sauce they but on sunday will start to bring significant rain into the fossil. on counting the cost this week the secretive money working to influence the u.k.'s exit from the european union good morning vietnam will get to grips with one of southeast asia's tyga cup economies plus who really benefits in the five g.

telecoms they are counting the cost of al-jazeera. al-jazeera. sweat every. time a movie every week a news cycle brings a series of breaking stories and then listening post as we turn the cameras on the media and focus on how they report on the stories that matter the most on al-jazeera. al-jazeera explores prominent figures of the twentieth century and how rivalries influenced the course of history steve jobs for a much better marketer than bill gates apple is going to reinvent stuff all the old made software what it is today will change the world to high tech visionaries whose

breakthroughs inspired a digital revolution jobs and gates face to face on al-jazeera. zero. this is the news hour live from london coming up in the next sixty minutes a captured indian fighter pilot is released from pakistan after the biggest eruption in hostilities for years between the two nuclear armed countries. show of defiance in algeria thousands protest against plans by president to seek a fifth term. a gun battle in the somali cow.