Tweets by former US diplomat on role during Dhaka stint in 2007-08, creates debate on social media

Recent tweets by Jon Danilowicz – stationed in Dhaka as a US diplomat during the last caretaker government – on Bangladesh have generated curiosity and debate on the social media platform. Danilowicz, referred to as “influential” during his posting in Dhaka at the time of the political changeover in 2007, “played a crucial role in the political arena and all eyes were always focused on him,” according to The Daily Star.

In a tweet on June 18, 2023, Danilowicz, from his verified handle, justified that “USG worked tirelessly to restore democracy in the 2007-08 period and supported much needed reforms.”

His tweet on the US “intervention” came in response to a tweet by Barrister Shah Ali Farhad, former special assistant to PM Sheikh Hasina and a Senior Associate at Centre for Research and Information (CRI), citing a leaked US cable from WikiLeaks, that reveals Danilowciz back then “advised” the US administration that “removal of both Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina from politics is widely seen as necessary to facilitate these changes and the progress of the country toward elections.”

In his tweet, Farhad, also founder of Confluence (a specialist blog for commentaries and analyses on politics, policy, diplomacy, and governance), raised the question: “What is more undemocratic than imprisoning top politicians of a country and trying to replace them with manufactured leadership with military and civil society backing?”

Referring to Danilowicz’s stint in Dhaka back then, Farhad further tweeted: “He was an enthusiastic supporter of the undemocratic depoliticisation campaign of that regime, and a subscriber of the infamous ‘minus-2’ theory.”

“Nowadays, Jon likes to masquerade as a pro-democracy ‘activist-type’ in Washington, DC, writing for South Asia Perspectives (a propaganda platform by Khaleda Zia’s ex-press official Mushfiq Fazal Ansari), and appearing in a pro-BNP human rights forum Right 2 Freedom,” Farhad’s tweet added.

He further wrote, “In fact, he likes to brag about the impact of both platforms on the AL Govt too, as can be seen from a screengrab shared where his association with Toby Cadman, BNP-Jamaat’s lobbyist and lawyer in UK/Europe, is crystal clear.”

“…He is definitely not fighting for democracy in Bangladesh. But he is throwing random punches and kicks. Question is, who is he doing that for?” – added Farhad.

One twitter user posted a recent revelation on the caretaker system by a former advisor who was briefly a part of that administration.

“A caretaker government is not capable of delivering solutions to all the problems,” said renowned human rights activist and lawyer Sultana Kamal.

Kamal, who resigned from the then caretaker government, rather stressed on the need for an “independent Election Commission” and political will.

According to journalist Gazi Nasiruddin Khokon, who was in charge of the bdnews24.com newsroom back then, Danilowicz “clearly attempted to glorify that stint but in reality, that very tenure has been marred by mounting pressure on journalists and editors of mainstream dailies from the military-backed regime – forcing them to publish unsubstantiated stories against political leaders, including then opposition leader and Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina.”