Envoys from 12 countries, EU summoned for statements on Hero Alom

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has summoned diplomats from 12 countries and the representative from the European Union after they released statements condemning the attack on Dhaka-17 by-poll independent candidate Ashraful Alom, popularly known as Hero Alom.

An official from the ministry, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the meeting had been scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.

Dhaka will officially inform the ambassadors and high commissioners of its ‘discontent’ with their statements, reports bdnews24.com citing the official.

Hero Alam, also a social media star, was attacked on Jul 17, while the bypoll for the Dhaka-17 seat was ongoing.

Two days later, 12 country missions and that of the European Union issued a joint statement condemning the attack.

Along with the EU, the other signatories to the statement were the US, the UK, France, Germany, Canada, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh Gwyn Lewis also posted a tweet condemning the incident on Jul 18.

The foreign ministry subsequently summoned Sheldon Yett, the acting UN resident coordinator in Bangladesh, on Jun 20 to express dissatisfaction over Lewis's tweet about Hero Alom.